Tick-Tock
by kaynibbler16
Summary: What might have happened on that spaceship if the clockwork droids had not completely shut down after the Doctor crashed through the time window to save Madame de Pompadour? Rose and Mickey suffer the horrifying consequences of the Doctor's actions.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: I love horror stories and this episode was the perfect opportunity to write a horror fic. This is light horror (at least compared to what I usually read), but horror none the less. Reader discretion advised. If you see any mistakes please don't hesitate to let me know. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Enjoy. :)

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.

* * *

Rose tried to keep calm, but her fear was starting to suffocate her. Her lungs were strained from running through the ship, trying so desperately to escape the droids.

_That bastard! That arrogant, Timelord bastard!_

How dare he do this to her and Mickey! Not only had the Doctor trapped himself in 18th century France, but he left Rose and Mickey behind on that damn spaceship in the middle of deep space, thousands of years away from home. They were at mercy of the same clockwork droids that had butchered the crew of the ship and wanted to use Madame de Pompadour's brain as their central computer.

The Doctor left them on a spaceship full of emotionless droids that did not recognize mercy and would use the Doctor's companions for engine parts.

If he ever returned Rose was going to have at him. She was going to remind him just how much they depended on him; depended on him to be responsible enough to recognize the danger he exposed them to. Everything Mickey and Rose had gone through since the Doctor crashed though the time window was nothing short of an awful nightmare.

The clockwork droids decided that if they couldn't use Reinette as their central computer then Rose would have to do.

And that's when everything went to hell.

Rose was so terrified that tears burned her eyes and she began to hyperventilate as she tried to keep from falling into complete despair. She knew that she was going to die; there was nothing that she or Mickey could do at that point. Her hand drifted down to the deep gash in her side; blood soaking through her clothes. Rose had no idea what happened to Mickey after she and him were separated by the droids, but she hoped with every fiber in her that he was not dead.

It was her fault that Mickey was here, he had listened to her stories about the wonders of traveling with the Doctor and Mickey decided that he wanted to see the universe too. If she had only been more adamant about not wanting him to join them on the TARDIS he wouldn't be there with her; about to die. The Doctor's negligence was truly remarkable. No man had ever brought her to such a high before completely crushing her faith in him, not even her ex Jimmy Stone.

Tick, tick, tick.

Her eyes widened in horror; Rose swallowed as her heart twisted viciously in her chest. Tears were pouring down her face out of fear and fatigue from blood loss.

Tick, tick, tick.

It stopped in front of the cupboard that Rose was hidden in.

Tick, tick, tick.

_No, oh god no, please no!_ Rose sobbed silently.

The door of the cupboard was torn ripped.

Rose let out a bloodcurdling scream as a droid seized her by the hair and started to drag her through the ship.

"You are compatible."

"NO, I'M NOT! I'M NOT!" Rose screamed as she tried to wrestle her hair away from the droid. "PLEASE, DOCTOR, HELP ME! PLEASE, PLEASE HELP M—" The droid's other hand shot out and grasped Rose by the throat, effectively cutting her off. Rose choked as her air ran out.

For a brief moment Rose thought she heard someone call her name, but everything lost meaning as her vision went dark.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: I love horror stories and this episode was the perfect opportunity to write a horror fic. Same warnings as last time. Reader discretion advised. If you see any mistakes please don't hesitate to let me know. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Enjoy. :)

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.

* * *

She was drifting, or at least that's what it felt like. She couldn't tell if she was conscious or not because everything felt distorted. Rose could hear a faint humming all around her but what it was she could not tell.

"…Rose…ome on…plea…ake up…"

What? Who was that? Rose suddenly felt very nauseous as reality slammed into her. She didn't remember falling asleep.

"Please, please wake up…don't leave me now, not after I've finally found you."

Rose pried open her eyes but it was an effort; her body was exhausted.

"Rose! Oh, thank god, oh thank you, thank you!" Rose could feel pressure on her chest; someone was hugging her. She finally managed to open her eyes wide enough to see who was holding her.

"Mickey…" Rose whispered hoarsely. Her throat burned; it was scratchy and dry.

"Rose, thank goodness you woke up, for a moment there I thought I was too late. I'd just managed to find one of those freeze guns again by the time I found you." Mickey's voice broke on the last few words. Rose could tell he was trying so hard not to cry. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd witnessed Mickey crying. "God, you were a mess. There was so much blood; I thought you were dead, Rose. You weren't movin' or nothin', but I couldn't leave you there. I wasn't gonna let some tin robot make you into an organ donor for a scrapped ship. I was able to stop the droid that had you by the hair long enough to escape with your bod—with you." Mickey gave Rose a watery grin; his eyes were still filled with unshed tears. "Which was no small effort, mind you, you're heavier than you look."

Rose tried to grin, but the throb in her scalp and side turned it into more of a grimace.

"What…where are we?"

Mickey heaved a heavy sigh. "TARDIS. It wasn't easy, but I managed to get us here before the droids caught us. We're in the Med Bay; the TARDIS helped me get the right supplies to stem the bleeding for now."

Rose's hand drifted to her side and sure enough there was a large bandage there.

"Thanks Mickey."

"I wasn't gonna let you die, Rose. You're my best friend." Mickey grabbed Rose's hand in both of his and leaned his forehead against them. "Don't you ever do that to me again. Do you hear me, Rose Tyler? Never again. I almost lost you." Mickey sobbed out the last sentence and Rose could see the tears rolling down his face. She raised the hand that Mickey wasn't holding and wiped the side of his cheek.

"I'm sorry, Mickey. So sorry about everything." Rose felt her body start to shake; she must have lost quite a bit of blood.

"Woah there." Mickey placed Rose's hands back down to the bed she was lying on, careful of her injuries. "You lost a bit of blood from that wound, hopefully not enough to need any extra because I haven't the faintest on how to find a vein."

"Yeah." Rose was tiring, but she tried to keep herself awake for Mickey. "What about the droids?"

"The TARDIS is keepin' 'em out, but they put up quite a fight trying to get to us in here." Mickey grabbed a glass from the table next to the bed and brought it up to her mouth. "Drink, you're really dehydrated right now and we need to get some fluids in you." Rose sat up to drink as much as she could before she started to get dizzy. Mickey helped her to lie down again and pulled up the blankets that had fallen down to her waist.

"Has…has he come back yet?" Rose's voice was so hopeful that Mickey had difficulty maintaining a neutral face in front of her.

"Ah, no, not yet."

"Ah, well, when he gets back I am going to have something to say to him."

Figures, Rose thought. She hoped he was having a grand old time in France right about now, because when he returned she was going to make life on the TARDIS for the Doctor a living nightmare.

A loud hum resounded throughout the Med Bay from the TARDIS, as though she were agreeing with Rose. Mickey jumped at the sound.

"Wha…What was tha'!"

Rose smirked at his startled expression. "That's just the TARDIS' way of sounding her approval. I can only imagine how much she's going to punish him for this stint. Last time he did anything this remarkably stupid, she replaced all the bananas with pears and put salt instead of sugar in all his sweets."

Mickey gave a weak laugh. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind so I don't end up on her bad side." Mickey got up again to fill Rose's glass of water, muttering to himself about talking time machines and fickle Time Lords.

"She doesn't talk." Rose turned her head towards him, taking in his condition from their awful misadventure. He looked tired, that much was obvious, but unhurt for the most part. A couple of scratches here and there, but nothing drastic. "'Least not in words. It's more pictures and ideas; thoughts really."

Mickey's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "You can hear her?!"

"Yeah, strange really. Didn't happen until after Satellite 5. Don't know why." Rose was exhausted and she could feel sleep trying to pull her under again. She fought to keep her eyes open. "Strange, really strange…" She was just so tired.

Mickey set the glass of water down and sat down in his seat beside her, brushing away a few strands of hair that had fallen in her face. Checking her temperature with the back of his hand, just to be safe, Mickey pulled the covers up under Rose's chin.

"Sleep." Mickey commanded softly. "You really need it. If—when the Doctor returns I'll make sure to wake you, okay?"

Rose grunted in reply, but her eyes had already slid shut. She started to drift again, Mickey's voice getting lost in the white noise.

She was aware.

Rose was aware that she was no longer lying on a bed in the Med Bay. No. She was lying on something cold. A table; metal, perhaps? She was so aware, but she could not move. No limbs, no muscles. Nothing. She was aware that she was not wearing anything, at all.

Naked and unable to move.

She was aware that she was afraid, but of what, she couldn't remember. She felt her throat constrict in terror as the minutes, or was it hours, ticked by. Time was irrelevant here; wherever here was.

A grinding noise caught her attention. Sharp, metallic claw-like hands lifted off from somewhere on either side of the table into her peripheral vision. Metal talons covered with blood; pieces of innards skewered down to the knuckles. She could only watch as the clawed hands reached up and gripped her wrists with terrifying strength. Her ankles were also gripped in a painful vice as the cold metal fingers dug into her skin. Harder and harder they gripped; Rose thought her bones were going to break.

Rose could only whimper painfully as she was unable to scream. Her mouth would not move despite her agony. She was cold and afraid and there was no one to save her. No one to help her.

She was alone.

Where was he?

Who was he? Something at the edge of her consciousness told her that someone was supposed to be there, but who? She couldn't remember. But why?

Why did you choose her? Why did you pick her safety first? Why did you leave me? Why was I not enough? Why did you leave us? Aren't we important? We have been with you since the beginning and yet you chose her. Why, you foolish man, why did you pick the French courtesan over all of time and space? Over us? We were there for you after the war, during the war, and every moment since you touched our console. Why leave us behind? Foolish, foolish man.

Her mind was streaming questions and thoughts one right after another and she could not make sense of it at all. She couldn't tell where she began or ended; couldn't tell between what were her own thoughts and what were "her" thoughts.

Pain! Blinding pain in her side; it was burning! It hurt! It hurt so much! Something was tearing her apart, cutting her to pieces. And yet she still could not move away. She could not stop it.

You left us! You left us alone to be with uncrowned Queen! Stupid, we could have taken you there. We could have gone with, but you wanted to play the hero.

Again.

Stop sending us away, stop leaving us behind!

Blood was filling her lungs. She couldn't breathe.

She was in so much pain.

She was so alone.

Come back, her mind cried. Please, please come back!

One last jolt of terrible agony and her mouth shot open as she let out a bloodcurdling howl.

"Rose! Rose, calm down. You're okay, we escaped! Rose! ROSE!"

Rose eyes shot open, but the horrible anxiety did not leave. She tried to move limbs but they were unresponsive. Tears were pouring down her face as she took in her surroundings. She gasped, her breathing ragged and burning her throat.

Choked sobs escaped as feeling finally returned and she wrapped her arms around the man next to her.

"Mickey! Mickey, I couldn't stop it! It wouldn't stop. So much pain. We were in so much pain!" She continued to cry on Mickey's shoulder as her words ran together into incomprehensible babble.

"Shhh, Rose, I've got you. We're safe. No more droids. Just us in the TARDIS; we're safe." Mickey rocked Rose back and forth, rubbing soothing circles on her back. And they just sat there together for a time, soothing each other.

The Doctor could not believe his luck! Reinette, the uncrowned Queen of France, had shown him a way back. Stranded, he was not! Before rushing back through the abandoned spaceship the Doctor crouched down on his side of the fireplace and addressed the courtesan.

"Reinette, do you still wish to come with me to see the stars?"

She smiled warmly. "I certainly would, my Lonely Angel."

The Doctor cringed a bit at the "Lonely Angel" comment, but chose to ignore it.

"Okay, pack some clothes and wait for me at the fireplace. Actually, I will bring my ship there. I don't trust the connection this fireplace has to the ship. Just wait a few moments and I'll be back. Watch out for a big, blue wooden box!" Dazzling Reinette with one of his winning smiles, the Doctor stood up and whipped out his sonic screwdriver. Turning off the connection to this ship would allow the TARDIS to travel back to that time period without damaging the timelines. Satisfied with his work, he turned around and strolled back through the ship.

"Roooose! Mickeeey!" The Doctor was anxious to see his companions again, even if it had only been hours since he last saw them rushing about trying to save Reinette. Actually, he was more anxious to one of his companions in particular. She was almost jeopardy friendly to a fault, but it was usually in high stake's moments that her true abilities shown through.

And he missed her.

She would no doubt be furious when she saw him next, but that wasn't going to stop him. He needed to see her.

A ticking noise stopped him dead in his tracks.

Turning towards the sound, the Doctor stared at a clock-work droid; its hands stained with blood.

His own blood froze in his veins at the droid's next words.

"She is compatible."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Here is the third chapter. Same as last time; if you spot any errors let me know. Feedback is always appreciated. Enjoy. :)

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.

* * *

No. No, that wasn't…but…no.

Terror and confusion warred within the Doctor. He closed the time window, he knew that he did. It was impossible that these droids could have reactivated the fireplace again after he short-circuited it.

Blond hairs were coiled around the droid's gloved fingers, several in fact. Yet again, that was impossible. He made certain that there was no way back and that the connection only worked once he'd activated it so even if it went there, the droid could not have returned without the Doctor's notice. Reinette was safe; he'd made certain of that.

Strange, those blond hairs were rather bright for the mistress. In fact, he would say they were actually…

Fear, terrible all consuming fear.

No. Not her, no. No, it couldn't be her.

The droid in front of the Doctor lifted it arm to take a swing at him, but the Doctor easily evaded the attack. Spotting a discarded freeze gun, he snatched it up and froze the droid before taking off into the ship.

He felt a nudge at the back of his skull, easily identifying it as the TARDIS. She was calling him back, indicating that his two companions were on board and that she was protecting them. The Doctor almost felt his knees give out.

Rose was safe.

And, well, Mickey, too.

He almost collided with his ship as he skidded to a stop in front of it, digging around in his pocket for the key. Unlocking the door, the Doctor let the TARDIS shut the door behind him and he instinctively dashed towards the Med Bay in search of his friends. Rounding a corner, he slammed into another body, knocking them both to the ground.

"Oi! Watch it!" The gruff voice beside the Doctor told him that his newest passenger, Mickey, was alive and well.

"Where is she? Mickey, where is Rose?" The Doctor gripped the other man's shoulders hard, staring him straight in the eye.

Mickey saw the Doctor's frantic look and even though he was extremely angry at being left behind on what they'd discovered was indeed NOT an abandoned ship, admittedly, being faced with the full fury of a Time Lord scared him a bit. He shrugged off the anxious man's hold and just pointed to the infirmary down the hall.

The Doctor took off towards the Med Bay again. He came to a skidding halt just as he entered the room, taking in the sight before him. Rose was sleeping on one of the table beds; her skin pale and sweaty and covered in scratches. The blanket covered Rose up to her chin, but even from only looking at her face he could tell that she probably looked just as battered, if not more so, beneath the white linens.

She looked beyond exhausted.

She looked almost lifeless.

The Doctor's breath seized in his chest, choking him with guilt.

As he slowly crossed the room to her bedside, he took in just how awful the past hours had been for her. Rose's hair was soaked with blood and oil and grease, her skin was waxy and bruised. The Doctor reached a hand out to stroke her cheek, but stopped millimeters from her face.

What right did he have to touch her like that?

After everything that he'd allowed to happen just so he could save a noble woman from 18th century France, who was he to be affectionate towards the woman who had risked her life for him so many times? Rose was his savior in so many ways and yet, he let himself get carried away and it very well almost cost Rose her life. He did not regret saving Reinette's life, she was a remarkable woman but still. His guilt was eating away at him; he almost let Rose die. Bile rose in his throat as a horrible image of Rose strapped to one of the operating tables that the clockwork droids used to lobotomize the crew.

He imagined that he'd arrived too late and came back to the dead body of his faithful companion. The Doctor actually wondered just how broken he would be to see her mangled corpse with her innards on grotesque display.

He couldn't breathe; he felt sick.

To know that she'd died because he didn't take a few seconds to check if there were any droids left on the ship; droids that might have been too damaged to teleport because of the ion storm that destroyed most of the systems on the ship. He should have checked, but he didn't.

She'd trusted him and he'd failed.

Rose let out a soft whimper as Mickey strolled into the room after the Doctor. The Doctor turned away from her and began fussing about with some equipment that the TARDIS had no doubt set out for him. He tried to ignore Mickey's presence, but it was obvious that the younger man had something to say.

"She's been mostly sleeping since we got back to the TARDIS." Mickey's voice was hesitant, not wanting to provoke the Time Lord.

"You've been gone for over 10 hours."

The Doctor looked up at this, his eyes guarded as he stared at Mickey. Mickey had seen better days, that much was for certain. He also had many scratches and bruises and sported a large bandage over his left eyebrow. The Doctor would have to take a look at it after he saw to Rose.

"Ah." It was the only reply the Doctor could give; what else could he say?

Mickey continued when he realized the pompous git didn't have anything else left to add. "I got her cleaned up best I could, but she still needs medical attention. The large gash on her stomach is the worst bit. I managed to clean it and bandaged it best I could, but she'll need stitches."

The Doctor swallowed as he pulled the blanket down Rose's still form, her whimpering got worse as she shivered. She was feverish and he needed to get her temperature down before he did anything with that wound. Reaching around for supplies he found an IV bag of 25th century medicine and hooked it up to her. Watching for a moment to make sure the solution was draining properly, the Doctor pulled away Rose's torn shirt to see the bandage.

He swallowed; almost the entire bandage was soaked with half dried blood. The Doctor knew this was going to be difficult to take, but hopefully the solution that he provided would kick in. The solution itself contained a mild anesthetic that would curb the pain, but it would not stop all of it when he had to remove the bandage to get at the wound. Frustratingly, using a stronger anesthetic with the solution might have adverse affects like making her fever worse. Carefully, he began to pull the medical tape away from Rose's skin and she gave a sharp hiss of pain as her eyes snapped open.

Rose was disoriented as she awoke to sharp agony in her side, spotting a dark figure looming above her. Panicking, Rose let out a scream as she tried to pull away from the figure.

The Doctor jerked back as Rose shrieked and almost fell off the side of the table. He made a grab for her, but received a stinging slap right before Rose fell off the bed, sending the IV stand clattering to the floor with her. The bandage tore off as the Doctor still had a firm grip on it. Rose shrieked again, but this time in intense pain as her already healing wound was torn open again. Sobbing on the floor, a still confused Rose tried to crawl away from her perceived attacker.

Mickey witnessed the entire event happen in stunned silence, not at all anticipating this particular turn of events. However, the moment Rose hit the ground Mickey darted towards his injured friend. Grabbing her by the arms, he tried to calm the hysterically sobbing Rose, but she just lashed out at him with her hands.

Mickey released Rose's arms to pull her into a loose hug and gently whispered soothing words to her. Still crying, Rose calmed down when she recognized Mickey's familiar embrace, having spent many years growing accustomed to it. Mickey helped Rose to her feet, careful of the now bleeding gash in her side. He guided her back to the bed, but as soon as she saw the Doctor she became hysterical again. She still did not recognize him, her fever making her delirious. The Doctor held up his hands in a surrendering gesture, hoping Rose would take it as a sign of goodwill.

Rose stood there for a few more seconds, regarding the man in front of her before clarity sunk in.

"Doctor!" She gasped, before doubling over and crying out as pain wracked her body. The Doctor moved to assist Mickey, who only allowed the alien to touch Rose because she was in such dire need of his help. They both lifted her onto the bed and the Doctor reached down to pick up the fallen IV stand. Fixing the medicine bag, the Doctor looked Rose in the eye before grabbing a syringe. He was left with no choice.

"Rose, I need to take a look at the gash in your side to make sure that there is nothing caught in it. I am going to put you to sleep for a little while, okay."

Rose started to shake her head, but her eyes were drooping already. She was too exhausted to argue. When the Doctor saw that she wasn't responding anymore, he injected the drug into the IV and set to work.

Mickey stood off to the side and watched as the Doctor cleaned Rose's wound and carefully fixed it with a machine Mickey couldn't identify. Right before his eyes he witnessed Rose's skin repair, leaving only a faint pinkish scar to symbolize that there had originally been an injury there.

The Doctor stepped back and observed his work, maintaining a detached mask. He ran his fingertips over the newly regenerated skin on Rose's side. He tried so hard not to break down and start apologizing to this precious pink and yellow human girl for everything he'd done. Now was not the time for that, though. Now was the time for answers. The Doctor needed to know what happened while he was in France. He needed to know what exactly led to Rose's injury. Mickey stood across the room from the Doctor, watching him like a hawk; daring him to make the first move.

"Mickey."

"Doctor." Mickey eyes narrowed on the man standing next to Rose as he spoke quietly.

"What happened?" The Doctor dropped the detached façade and poured as much sincerity into his question.

"A lot." Mickey was angry; angry at the Doctor for abandoning them, angry at the situation on the ship, angry at himself for not protecting Rose. How could a man who, just the other night, almost professed to Rose that he loved her, which Mickey was absolutely certain that he did, abandon her for a woman he met merely hours before?

"I noticed." The Doctor was not in the mood for games, but he had to be careful of what he said because he did not want to set Mickey off. "We should take this into another room and let Rose rest."

The Doctor didn't want to leave Rose's side. In fact it was the very last thing at that moment that he wanted to do, but he needed to speak with Mickey first about what had transpired on that spaceship. Mickey gave a curt nod and let the Doctor lead the way out of the room.

While the two men went off to talk, Rose slept on. However, what the two men didn't know was that Rose had not wanted to go back to sleep. In fact, if she had her own way she wouldn't sleep for a few days if she could help it. Terrible nightmares plagued her sleep. She felt as though she were drowning with no view of the surface. She heard bloodcurdling screams and saw the most terrifying, horrible creatures; awful visions of the most gruesome macabre. In reality though, no one could tell she was frightened of her own dreams as her face retained a calmness to it.

It was as though her body was not her own.

And yet, she slept on; immersed in her own fears.

Unbeknownst to all, a certain sentient ship listened to her Wolf as she screamed in her head. She knew something was wrong, terribly wrong, but she did not know what. She could see what the problem was; could not identify the attacker, but she knew there was something.

Something bad lurked amongst her passengers.

Something stalked her Wolf and she would find out what it was and give her fickle pilot hell if need be.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**: Thanks everyone for your reviews! You guys are awesome. Let me know if you see any errors. I love feedback. Prepare for a bit of an emotional roller-coaster in this chapter. Here is Chapter 4. Enjoy! =D

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Doctor Who nor any of its characters.

* * *

The Doctor led Mickey into an empty sitting room across the hall from the infirmary with two plush chairs that sat across from each other at a table. Gesturing to the seats, the Doctor took the chair opposite of Mickey and sagged into it a bit out of emotional exhaustion. Seating himself as well, Mickey was wary of the man, no, alien, in front of him. After everything that had happened that day Mickey was not going to be pleasant to the Time Lord. In fact, it was about time that someone told him just how much of a twat he was.

"This is your fault, you know." Mickey voice was soft, but harsh. The Doctor grimaced at Mickey's tone, knowing he was going to get an ear full for what happened. However, he needed to know what had transpired on that spaceship.

"I know," the Doctor paused for a moment, collecting his words, "but right now I need you to tell me what happened."

Mickey stared at him, eyes hard and unforgiving. As they should be, the Doctor thought wryly. Everything about Mickey just radiated controlled anger, fury, and it was all directed at the Doctor. This was not going to be pleasant.

"All right, you want to know what happened? What happened while you were off playing the court jester for the French court and sneaking under the French bint's skirts? What happened while Rose and I waited for you on a ship that was supposed to be devoid of those homicidal repair robots that all should have followed you through that time window, but, oh, guess what, they didn't?" Spit was flying out of Mickey's mouth as he became louder; his face flushed with rage. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you. I'll tell you exactly what your little stunt caused, but I wonder if you care enough to hear it."

Mickey's chest was heaving as wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, still glaring at the Doctor. The Doctor felt his own anger spike after that last statement.

"Wha-what do you mean, if I care enough? I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't!" The Doctor was careful not to release his full Oncoming Storm fury on Mickey; the man had been through enough trauma that day, but he was still infuriated by Mickey's insinuations.

"Really, than what was the whole crashing through the time window thing all about, then?" Mickey goaded as he stood up from his chair and started pacing agitatedly around the room, unable to calm down once he got started.

"I had to save them, Mickey! I couldn't let Reinette die; she was a fixed point in France's history. The damage her death could have done would be astronomical." Tugging at his hair, the Doctor stood up and glared pointedly at Mickey, trying not to lose his temper even further.

Mickey was having none of it. "But leaving us to die on a spaceship was an acceptable sacrifice, was it? Jumping on a white horse like a prince trying to save the princess, while leaving behind his friends is more your style, is it? You couldn't use your ship to smash through the glass, no, only a horse would do. Which doesn't make any sense; you said you would have to use a truck to smash the glass, so your spaceship would work best right? Then why use a bloody horse?!"

Mickey was shouting now and the Doctor was thankful that he'd shut the door behind them before coming in here, lest he wake Rose. "You didn't think! You left us, alone, on a spaceship which we discovered wasn't as empty as we thought while you entertained the nobles. Tell me, Doctor, how longer will it be until we don't make it out? I got Rose away from the droids; I was the one who stayed by her side when you abandoned her. If I hadn't been there, how would you have explained to Jackie why you were bringing the corpse of her daughter home to her, or at least what was left of her, after you promised to always send her home safe?"

Mickey paused for breath, letting the words sink in. The Doctor was well and truly speechless; as if finally realizing the real ramifications of his adventure in France.

"You really don't get it, Doctor. Jackie and Rose became my family after Gran died. You have no idea how difficult it was not to tell Jackie the truth during that year Rose was gone. To let her think her daughter was either kidnapped or dead and as much as you rant and rave about Jackie, you don't have a clue what she and Rose have been for me. Because of you, for that one year, I lost them both. Rose was off wherever you two went and Jackie blamed me for her goin' missing. Everyone thought I'd killed Rose and Jackie, Jackie was the worst. Not because she blamed me and did she ever, but because she thought her daughter was dead."

The air was heavy; this had gone far beyond the day's events. The Doctor held his head down in shame, he never really thought about the effects that mishap caused. Receiving nothing but silence, Mickey continued his rapid fire questioning.

"Tell me, Doctor, what will you do when you can't save Rose? Or more specifically, what will you do when you have to choose between Rose's life and someone else's? Your life may not be safe and I know she knows that, but what you did today was something even I was shocked by." Mickey watched as the Doctor dropped back into his chair and put his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry, Mickey. To you and to Rose, I am so, so sorry." This was not the Oncoming Storm, this was a broken man with nothing left but his ship and the people he picked up along the way. And yet, he almost sacrificed all of that because he hadn't been thinking; because he got caught up in French civilities and a beautiful courtesan that needed his help.

He ran away from the emotions that he was trying to bury; feelings for a certain blonde companion. After Sarah Jane the Doctor realized that he may not have the best impact on his companion's lives. He leads them to believe that there could be something more, a relationship that he cannot possibly have with them. And Rose, oh Rose, she was so close to breaking down his barriers. She made him want what he wasn't allowed to have and he wondered that if he gave in, what would that do to her? He couldn't keep her forever; no matter how much she wanted it, hell, no matter how much HE wanted it. Either he would leave her or she would leave him. He would lose her eventually; was it worth the heartache? He honestly didn't know.

"I don't know what came over me, I was so caught up in everything that I-I just didn't think." How could he explain himself to Mickey; it would only be excuses. Yes, he could have used the TARDIS, why he'd chosen not to was inexcusable. His reasons for abandoning Rose and Mickey on that spaceship would only be hollow words. "I'm sorr—"

"Stop saying that! You're always sorry. Sorry didn't save our lives, I did!" Mickey kicked one of the legs of the table causing the TARDIS to flicker her lights. He mumbled a silent apology to the ship before continuing. "One of these days, Doctor, we won't make it. Rose won't make it. What then?"

The question hung in the air, harsh silence following it. Neither man spoke for a few moments. Mickey finally gave up trying to get the Doctor's reasons behind that day's events and plopped back into his chair.

"Rose wouldn't move away from that window."

"Wha'?" The Doctor was a bit thrown by the change of topic. "Oh."

"Yeah, she stood there for hours, wouldn't budge. Had that look in her eye; same one she had when Jimmy left her on some backstreet in London for the last time. He abandoned her, ya' know."

The Doctor kept his features neutral, just letting Mickey talk. He wanted to go and check on Rose, feeling the sudden urge for her presence more acutely than before. Then he would go hide away somewhere in the bowels of the TARDIS to wallow in self-loathing. But he owed it to Mickey to stay put and hear what happened.

"Anyway, I'd gone off to explore around the spaceship a bit when the entire thing started to shake. Don't know how or why, but it only lasted a few seconds before those droids showed up. Obviously I freaked out; I didn't think there were any left on board, but the weird thing about them, though, was that they looked really damaged. Some were missing parts and some were just parts. There was only one or two that actually looked pretty unscathed out of the lot." Mickey started tapping his fingers on the table top, trying to calm his nerves as he remembered the sheer panic that went through him at the sight of the droids.

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, ran into one before getting here. Found a freeze gun laying the floor, I assume that's what you used."

"Yeah, it was the one Rose originally used. After I saw them I panicked and went to warn Rose. When I found her, she still hadn't moved from that spot. I barely had time to tell her about the droids before they showed up. We used the freeze guns on a few of them, but there were so many and then we got separated. I still don't know what really happened to Rose during that time, but when I found her—"

Mickey made a little choking noise in the back of his throat and the Doctor could see tears shining in his eyes. The Doctor felt a vicious twist in the pit of his stomach at what he missed while he was in France. "Take your time," was all he could say without his voice breaking.

"It tore her side open and she was bleeding badly, but that wasn't the worst part." Eyes wary, Mickey finally looked back up at the Time Lord and the Doctor could see the sheer horror of what he'd witnessed in those moments clearly in Mickey's eyes. His throat constricted at the thought of what Mickey could possibly consider worse than an injured Rose.

"Did you see that shallow cut on her forehead earlier?" Mickey asked hesitantly.

Furrowing his eyebrows, the Doctor recalled a long, but very shallow cut right over her brow. "Yeah, I think so."

"That's how far the droid had cut into her skin before I froze it. It was just about to cut her skull open to get to her brain."

The Doctor's blood went cold; he felt bile rise into his throat just thinking about how close Rose had come to being the spaceship's new central computer. Stumbling to his feet, the Doctor yanked the door to an adjoining bathroom open and hurled himself into the room. His stomach heaved out all its contents before he even reached the toilet. He didn't leave the bathroom for at least half an hour.

The air was freezing. Rose shivered violently as she attempted to retain some heat, but she was fighting a losing battle. She had no idea where she was nor what was happening to her. Everything was dark and cold and terrifying. Her body ached all over from unseen cuts and bruises.

She was running from something; something horrid. Closing her eyes, Rose begged for help.

Anyone.

Please, please help me.

When Rose opened her eyes again the visage of a grotesque alien creature loomed inches from her face.

The creature's face was gaunt and sickly yellow with black pits where the eyes should have been and it had no nose or ears to speak of. It was the mouth that frightened Rose the most as it split the creature's face in half. There were no lips at all and the teeth were sharp and a decayed brown. She could smell the creature's hot breath on her face; the putrid scent of rotten meat and bile.

"You are trapped," a hollow voice rasped from the creature's unmoving mouth, "alone, vulnerable, delicioussssssss." Tongue-like feelers inched their way out between its rotted teeth, brushing along her cheeks.

It was tasting her! She wanted to scream. She wanted to be sick.

Feeling its claws dig into her arms, the creature opened its mouth wide, unhinging its jaw in the process. A loud sucking sound grew louder and louder until Rose realized it was coming from the creature's mouth.

Pulling her closer, the creature drew her into its mouth and she screamed.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**: Here is chapter 5! This story is un-betaed, so if you see any mistakes please let me know. I love feedback so please leave comments. :) And I hope you enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.

**Update**: I fixed some of the formatting issues in the dialogue, nothing major just some errors.

* * *

Rose's eyes snapped opened, a scream lodged in her throat. For a few seconds she couldn't breathe, but then her lungs began to work again as she sucked in life giving air as though she had just tried running a marathon, underwater. Her arms felt limp at her sides; she could barely move them. Everything around her felt distorted and unfamiliar. Something was wrong, but she didn't know what it was.

This wasn't her room. Where was she? Everything was so jumbled in her mind that she was beginning to panic. She couldn't remember what had happened or what she had been doing last. She vaguely remembered faces, but of whom? She really couldn't tell. A pounding headache at the back of her skull was making her nauseous. Everything just ached.

A noise from across the room caught her attention and she mustered enough energy to turn her head. Standing a short distance away, someone was fiddling with some medical equipment that made a loud squealing noise and sparked, causing the individual to curse quietly and shoot a quick glance in Rose's direction. The person's eyebrows lifted when they noticed Rose was awake. Despite being slightly off kilter, she could tell it was a man. A man she vaguely recognized.

"Rose," the man asked softly, slowly inching towards her, "are you okay? It's me, the Doctor, just me, those things are gone now. You're safe."

He was nervous. Rose hadn't been too keen to see him last time and he had meant to slip out before she woke up, but Mickey had to use the restroom and he didn't want Rose to be alone when she came to. Although it was difficult to maintain distance where Rose was concerned, the Doctor attempted to keep out of Mickey's way for a while because of that tongue lashing he received earlier and, perhaps if he was honest with himself, because of his little incident in the bathroom. That had been beyond humiliating. He couldn't believe that happened, no less in front of Mickey.

As if the other man did not have enough reason to be disgusted with him; the Doctor didn't really blame him anyway. He had essentially left both of his companions to die three thousand years into their future. Not exactly the wisest decision he's ever made.

Now having to watch the one person who'd always believed in him, even after everything he's put her through, struggle with a traumatic experience that he had indirectly caused was excruciating. Rose had not reacted well the last time she saw him, as the ache in his cheek kept reminding him. There was certainly no doubt in his mind that she was Jackie Tyler's daughter. Right now though, it was difficult to predict how Rose would react to him. She'd spent the last several hours unconscious and, despite her quickly progressed healing, she was still emotionally and mentally struggling with the aftermath of the droid's attack as well as the possible after-effects from the anesthetic.

As the Doctor drew nearer to Rose, memories started to push their way back into her mind, particularly the recent ones. "Water." she gasped out, throat dry and hurting.

"Water? Oh! You want water. Yes, yes, I can get you water. Whatever you need, anything at all—" the Doctor said quickly as he continued to babble while scrambling about the Med Bay, grabbing Rose a glass of water and some extra blankets, just in case.

"You've been asleep for a little while, um, Mickey popped out to the loo, but he'll be back soon. I think."

The Doctor could hardly keep himself from pulling Rose into his arms and never letting go. It was difficult enough to keep from apologizing to her, seeing as she just woke and all. He didn't know what to say anyway, a simple sorry would probably just get him slapped again. How does one apologize to someone who they'd promised to never to leave behind only to turn around and break that promise almost within hours of making it? He was a right prat, he was, but he wouldn't let anything hurt her like this again.

Rose shifted as feeling came back to her and, even though it was a strain, she managed to sit up on the bed. She was still experiencing a bit of vertigo, but for the most part she was feeling much better than before. She sat there for a few more minutes as she regained her strength, which she was recovering quicker than she thought. The Doctor handed her a glass of water, which she drank down readily. As she began to feel more like herself, Rose slid off the bed and stood shakily for a minute or two.

Steadying herself, she whirled around to face the Doctor.

The Doctor jumped as Rose turned on him, a fierce rage in her eyes. Oh, she was angry. Really angry.

"Rose…" he whispered cautiously.

"You!" Rose jabbed her finger at him, her face flushed and wild looking. "You—you arse!"

She advanced on the Doctor menacingly, ignoring the sensitivity in her side. "What were you thinking? Leaving us like that you—you pompous arse! I can't believe you! After everything we've been through I never expected you to do something so unbelievably stupid."

She was still incredibly exhausted, but it would be a cold day in hell before she let this go. No sweeping this conversation under the rug.

The Doctor held his hands up defensively. "Rose I…you have to understand, it wasn't what it looked like…um…it was…look, I had to save her. We save people, Rose."

"No! No, there was no _we_ this time, Doctor. It was all about you and only you. You went gallivanting off into the 18th century because of the King's mistress. Is that what you do now? Chase after some cheap French skirt at the first twitch of your dick! Meanwhile, me and Mickey were waiting for you start thinking with the head above your shoulders instead of the one hanging between your legs!"

She didn't care how sick she felt or how sore her throat was at the moment; Rose was going to give him a new reason to be afraid of Tyler women. If he really believed that his actions made any reasonable sense then he was dead wrong. She would make sure that he knew just how badly he'd messed up their last adventure and just how much hell she was going to give him.

"Rose, I'm sorry. I am so sorry. I really don't know what came over me. Please, Rose, I never meant for any of this to happen. I had no idea there were any functioning droids left on the ship. Please!"

"You could have taken us with you."

Her response was cold and flat; it took every effort not to smack him. "It's not that you didn't think to check for leftover droids that makes me angry, Doctor. It's that you didn't even try to find some other way to break the glass that didn't strand your passengers. You could have used the TARDIS to smash the time window, yet you used a goddamn horse. Really? Did all your blood spend too much time down south that your ever-so-brilliant brain shorted out? Really, what was it that made her so damn special?"

"I don't know why the droids were so interested in her, Rose."

"Not to the droids, Doctor, to you."

He was taken aback, not sure how to answer, but she continued without waiting.

"Why did she mean so much to you; you barely knew her. When I spoke to her, it was rather obvious that she had some twisted image of you in her head. _One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel_." Rose imitated the Madame, speaking with the same condescending attitude that Reinette used when talking down to her. "She saw you as some kind of deity, not a man. You may be a Time Lord, Doctor, but you are no god. She must have stroked your ego good because you fell for it. What was it, then? What was it that made you choose her over us? Over me?"

The heavy questions hung in between them for a few heartbeats

"She saw me."

Rose gave him a bemused look.

"She saw you?"

"She saw into my mind, Rose," he fidgeted under her dead stare, "and she didn't turn away."

Rose's throat constricted as she contemplated the weight of his words. "That's it. She saw you." It was unbelievable. Never had she been so confused by this strange and infuriating alien. "She saw what in your mind?"

He didn't speak for a while and Rose thought he might not answer her question at all. "My past," he finally said, "the things I've done throughout my life, the people I've hurt, the lives I've destroyed, the pain I've suffered. She saw it."

He knew that Reinette might have only seen what wasn't heavily shielded, but still, she saw bits and pieces of his life. It was nice to have someone in his head after so long; he wouldn't deny how good it felt.

"So what?" Rose was flippant. "Let me get this straight. She saw into your mind, watched your memories like a movie, and suddenly she's the most important thing in your life?"

This infuriated Rose to no end. "She was in the security of a palace, never having to set her foot outside of her comfort zone. She may have seen your memories, Doctor, but she never experienced your lifestyle, not really. Barring the droids popping in and out of her life, she never had to worry about getting ripped apart by strange alien creatures as a sacrifice to their deity or dying on some far off planet never to see her home again. She had a relatively normal life without you."

The Doctor wanted to interject, but Rose was on a tirade and wouldn't allow him to get a word in.

"You protected her so she didn't have to worry about the droids that much. Maybe it was her faith in you or maybe it was because she really didn't know what else to do, but she only had to wait for you to rescue her." Rose felt the constriction in her throat grow even tighter. "She never had to worry about running for her life or getting thrown in jail or confronting a Dalek, but she saw your memories, so I guess that counts more! Never mind that I stood by your side when we fought against the Gelth in Cardiff, or faced off against 200,000 Daleks, including the Emperor! What the hell does that make me, Doctor? Have I also become a spare part to you, just like those droids?"

"No! How could you think that—that I would just leave you? I—"

He stopped; that was a poor argument to make. He had already proven to her that he could and did leave her behind.

"Did you honestly think that was going to end well, Doctor? Did you truly believe that all you had to do was say _I'm sorry, Rose, I promise it won't happen again_ and just expect me to say _oh gee, Doctah, that's fine, it's not like we couldn't survive, alone, on a derelict spaceship for a decade or two_, did you? Because let me enlighten you, that was a stupid decision. So no, apology not accepted. Not this time, Doctor. I trusted you!" Angry tears were rolling down Rose's face and she tried to wipe away as many as possible.

The Doctor was speechless. He knew gaining forgiveness from Rose would be difficult; how could he apologize for almost letting her die, but he hadn't expected her to be this furious. Furious enough for her not to accept his apology. He'd rather she'd slapped him, it would probably hurt less. And to lose her trust, her faith in him, that was the worst bit.

He was ashamed. He, a Time Lord, the last of the Time Lords, was ashamed of what he had done to a human. Or really, what he hadn't done. He hadn't protected her, no, he didn't even try to. He just jumped on that horse and left without a second glance. No thought to what would happen to her or Mickey.

"Rose, I…what can I do? What will make you forgive me?"

"Make me forgive you? You can't make me do anything." Rose spat out harshly. "Whether or not I _choose_ to forgive you depends."

"Depends on what?"

"On whether I can stay after this."

"What do you mean, if you can stay? Of course you can! I'm not just going to leave you somewhere. Rose, you can stay as long as you like!"

"What I meant, Doctor, was if I am willing to stay."

"Oh. You…"

The Doctor wasn't sure he could say it; it hurt too much to even think of it, let alone actually ask her.

"Do you," he swallowed around the lump in his throat, "do you…want to leave?" He prayed she wouldn't say yes. He would resort to begging if he had to; Rose leaving was the number one thing he did not want to experience. She was, well, she was his Rose. His pink and yellow girl.

_Please_, he silently pleaded her, _please don't leave_.

"I honestly don't know Doctor."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N**: Here is chapter 6! This story is un-betaed; if you see any mistakes please let me know and I'll fix them. Feedback is wonderful, so please leave a comment or two. And I just wanted to say ahead of time: I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I'll be hiding in my little cupboard under the stairs. Enjoy! =D

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.

* * *

The Doctor just stood there, his mind reeling. He could barely breathe, there was a dull throb in his chest and he wondered if that was the feel of his hearts' breaking.

Rose was considering leaving him. Maybe she wasn't sure if she wanted to yet, but the thought that she didn't want to travel with him any longer burned deep in his hearts.

She wasn't looking at him any longer, but he could tell by her body language that she was starting to tire from hurling all of her pain and disappointment at him. He would not blame her if she left.

He deserved it.

After everything he's done to her these past few weeks, or really, everything he's done to her since they met, he was more surprised that she had chosen to stay. He had been emotionally distant from the beginning, not wanting to get to close lest she get burned by him in the end. After he'd changed, though, their relationship changed too.

There was a certain closeness to their relationship now that had not been there when he was all big ears and blue eyes. He could not stand being away from her; the Doctor was drawn to her now, more so than ever. So when she confessed that she may not want to be with him any longer, he could feel the agony of her loss even though she was still there.

"Rose…" he croaked out. "I…can we just…" He could think of nothing that would repair the damage he had done.

"Doctor," she panted heavily, "can we not talk about this now. I…I need help…" Her voice broke on the last word. One moment she was just a little winded from her rant, but the next she felt the room spin and her body pitch forward.

"Rose!" The Doctor darted forward to catch her before she could crumple to the floor. He caught her easily and carefully maneuvered her limp body back onto the bed. Her face was pale like earlier; her fever rising again. The Doctor checked her vitals and injected another dose of medicine, hoping that it would finally drop her temperature this time.

After making sure that she was not in any danger of elevating her temperature further, the Doctor sat down heavily in the chair beside her bed and let everything sink in. All her accusations, every time he failed her, everything that made her want to leave him. How was he going to salvage their relationship? Was there a way? Where was Mickey?

Now that he thought about it, the Doctor hadn't seen him in a while. When he questioned his ship he received an unusual response from her; it was muffled, but he thought that she either said that he got lost or that he got dropped into a vat of vanilla pudding. The Doctor opted for the 'he got lost' interpretation. It was strange, usually when she spoke to him she was very clear about things, but recently, at least since he got back on board, she had been treating him…oddly. As though she were mad.

Great, he'll just add his own ship to the list of individuals that were angry with him.

The Doctor sat there for a moment longer until he heard the door open and Mickey sauntered in with a smug look on his face. Not saying a word, but probably not needing to, Mickey walked past the Doctor and to check on Rose.

"She gave you a tongue lashing, didn't she?" Judging by the look in Mickey's eye, the Doctor assumed that he must have it written all over his face.

The Doctor merely glared at him in response, not wanting to discuss this with him.

"Oi!" Mickey hissed. "Don't give me that. You're the one who screwed up so don't take it out on me."

Without responding, the Doctor lowered his head, shoved his hands in his pockets, and shuffled out of the room.

The TARDIS truly did want to punish the Doctor at the moment, but she didn't have time for that. Something was wrong, very wrong. Her telepathic signals to the Doctor were being interrupted and half of what she was saying was getting lost.

Something was blocking her.

Something very powerful.

She was worried now; whatever had tagged along from the spaceship was much more dangerous than she'd first believed. This was one of the few times since the end of the Time War that the TARDIS was truly afraid.

The Doctor made his way to his favorite hiding place; it was a garden with red fauna and silver trees. It was the closest he would ever get to home and right now he needed it. He couldn't believe what had happened that day. Not only had he almost gotten himself stuck in 18th century France, he also endangered the lives of his companions. After everything he had put her through these past weeks, it was no wonder Rose wasn't certain if she wanted to stay. First he goes and regenerates and then he meets an old companion that he left behind, for her own good of course, but then he abandons Rose to be with another woman; he was a git.

Maybe she _should_ leave.

Just the thought of her absence made the Doctor's hearts stutter painfully. He didn't want her to leave him, which said a lot about how much she affected him. Rose was brilliant, fantastic, wonderful. And he was pretty certain that this body had been made for her, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Though his last form was completely enthralled by this human woman, it almost paled in comparison to the way his new body practically ached for her. It was such a desperate, gnawing need that he could barely keep from touching her all the time.

The Doctor buried his head in his hands.

What should he do? Let her stay or make her go? He would never force her out, but what if? What if he made her _want_ to leave?

Just cut her off completely, make her feel as though she wasn't wanted.

He hated himself for even thinking it, but after that day's events, it might be for the best.

Rose would get to live a normal life far away from all the dangers he exposed her to. And the worst part of it all wasn't the malicious creatures they ran into or all the cruel governments they overturned, it was him. The Doctor was the most harmful part of their adventures. Today wasn't the first time he'd left her behind, far from it. He'd done it on numerous occasions and it's become more frequent since he regenerated.

New Earth and Cassandra; he didn't wait for her and she almost got suppressed to death in her own head.

The Torchwood Estate; left her behind yet again and she was almost killed by a lupine wavelength haemovariform.

Sarah Jane; he might not have left Rose behind that time; however, he had all but rubbed in her face that he was capable of doing so to his companions before her.

He'd also lied, told her that he would never leave her behind.

_Not you_, he'd said to her. A bit rich coming from him and yet, she'd believed him.

Believed that he would always stand by her side when worst came to worst, but not this time. No, he had failed when she needed him the most.

The Doctor let out an angry growl, frustrated at what he couldn't fix. He had damaged their relationship, potentially in a very permanent way.

Would Rose forgive him?

Should she?

She got hurt, almost killed because of him, and for what? Because he was distracted by a famous figure of history. The Doctor almost lost the one person who'd saved him after the war; a time when he truly believed that there was nothing left for him.

He was terrified.

Would it hurt worse later when he lost her than it would now? Was it worth finding out?

He mulled over these questions for a long while before coming to a conclusion. Rose had been the single greatest thing for him after the war, but he was not the best for her. She deserved so much more than a broken soldier with nothing left but his blue box and awful memories.

He had made his decision.

Rose felt something slithering up her legs.

Up her arms.

Around her torso.

Felt as the air was squeezed from her lungs.

All she could see was an abyss below her; unending.

A cold voice spoke in her ear.

"You will die here. Unwanted. Unneeded. Pathetic creature."

She couldn't speak for there was no air left in her lungs. The fear of being dropped into the chasm overrode the terror of the creature behind her.

It continued to speak.

"Why would he need you when he could have her? What are you compared to her? She saw his mind; she understood him. He doesn't want you, doesn't need you. She is priceless; you are common. She is everything you can never be. You are worthless. You, you are only good to feed usssss…"

Rose felt tendrils wrap around her throat, crushing her windpipe. All the other tendrils let go; the only thing keeping her from falling into the darkness was the tendril around her neck.

No, not a tendril, a noose.

Rose struggled against it, clawing at it but it wouldn't give. She could feel consciousness draining from her as struggled. Something warm and wet dribbled down her throat onto her chest and the sharp scent of iron hit her senses.

She had torn her neck open. The noose grew tighter and tighter and—

Rose bolted up on the Med Bay bed, scaring the wits out of Mickey.

"Whoa," he said, pressing a hand against his chest, "you okay?"

Rose stared at him for a moment, trying to piece together what she was feeling. "I was…but it wasn't…" She trailed off.

What had she been dreaming about?

Her body was in fight or flight mode but she didn't understand why.

"Yeah, just another nightmare." She was still tired even after all the rest she'd had.

Mickey got her a glass of water and, despite his protests, still helped her out of the bed. She was sick of lying down and wanted to use the bathroom. Not a minute after she stood up, the Doctor walked into the room, his expression neutral. He quickly checked her vitals and, after determining that she was much better than before, heaved a sigh of relief.

But then he gave her a tight lipped smile; it was one that Rose recognized well.

The Doctor had something important to say. Scratching his chin, no doubt stalling for time, he spoke with a controlled voice.

"We'll be landing soon."

"Where?" Mickey inquired.

"18th century France. We're picking up Reinette."

"What?! Why?" Both Rose and Mickey were astounded. They could not believe that after everything he'd put them through for that woman, he was doing it again.

"I made a promise and I intend to keep it. I've broken one too many recently and I won't do it again. Please understand, without her help I would never have made it back. There won't be any droids this time, I promise." And with that, he swept out of the room.

Rose could not believe it. After everything, he would actually go back there.

She might just hate him a bit.

All of a sudden, Rose was hit with an overwhelming urge to storm into the console room and hit him. Not slap him, but punch him. As hard as she could. She wanted to scratch him.

Hurt him.

Break him!

No, no she didn't; she didn't want to injure the Doctor.

Where had _that_ come from?

But still, it was there. A strain.

A need to destroy.

Break, shatter, tear apart.

Destruction.

Blissful, all consuming chaos.

Rose shivered at the thoughts. What was wrong with her; she may be angry with the Doctor, which she had every right to be, but not like that. Her hands were shaking. She looked up to see Mickey staring at her strangely.

"You alright?" His eyes were wary.

"Yeah, fine." she said, her voice surprisingly calm.

"Oh, for a moment there…" Mickey's eyebrows knit together.

"What?"

"Nothing." he said quickly, helping her towards the bathroom. If Rose didn't know any better she would think that Mickey was afraid of her and if she were honest with herself, she might be too.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N**: First thing, please don't hurt me after this chapter! ~Scuttles into a corner~ With that said, here is chapter 7! Same thing as usual, if there are any mistakes please let me know because this story in un-betaed. Feedback is greatly appreciated, so please leave some comments! Enjoy! =D

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.

* * *

Rose wandered through the halls of the TARDIS, anger radiating off her. She was furious. What had happened to him? What had caused him to become such a heartless bastard? Everything she had done for him meant nothing when it came to the other women in his life. Sarah Jane she could understand because she was a former companion who meant a great deal to him and Rose truly enjoyed the older woman's company.

What she couldn't understand was Reinette. Why was a woman who barely knew the Doctor more important to the Time Lord than Rose?

It was beyond unfair, it was plain cruel.

She walked further through the halls until she arrived at the door to the wardrobe room. Not wanting to go back to her room, Rose pushed the door open and walked inside. Racks of clothes surrounded her, but she felt herself being drawn to a particular section on the second level. She strolled past dresses of all varieties and colors, noticing a few that looked like they were from 18th century France. Rose couldn't prevent a sneer from covering her face.

As petty as it was, she really would like to see Reinette attempt to run in that massive impractical dress of hers.

Maybe then the Doctor would see how unreasonable his idea was; Reinette was an important historical figure and knowing his driving skills they could wind up right in the middle of a dangerous war. He was a complete dunce sometimes and she was fed up with his inconsistent attitude recently.

Rose stopped right next a rack of men's jackets when one caught her eye; it was 'his' jacket. The leather one. Unexpected tears sprang to her eyes as she realized where her subconscious had led her.

She ran shaky fingers along the worn seams of the leather, her heart clenching as she remembered each time he would drape the jacket over her shoulders because she was cold. He was so broken back then, tired of everything. Her old Doctor always looked at her 'that' way when she had done something clever; the one look that practically screamed that she was the center of his universe.

Oh, how she missed that look.

How she missed 'him.'

This new Doctor wasn't the man she remembered, no matter how much she tried to convince herself otherwise. Everything was not the same as before and their recent adventure only drove that belief home. He wasn't her Doctor any longer. This new Doctor was something new entirely and she didn't like it. She didn't like being strung along only to be dropped like an old toy he was no longer interested in.

Is that what she was to him now, something that was great fun until he found something new to play with? A new, shiny companion.

Much better than the worn out, tarnished model.

Rose thought back to conversation with the mistress. Reinette called her a child. What a condescending woman. She was used to people looking down on her because she was from the council estate, but the way the woman spoke to her almost made Rose slap her.

She had only been trying to warn the mistress and yet Reinette had the audacity to be snide to her. Rose dug her fingers into the leather as she tried to control the sweeping rage coursing through her veins.

How dare she!

If the woman thought herself above Rose then she would have another thing coming. Rose was not the least bit happy to know that the woman would be onboard the TARDIS with them; it rubbed her the wrong way. She was already ticked off at the Doctor and he was going to learn a painful lesson about not listening to her or the TARDIS.

Reinette actually believed herself to be a very important woman in the Doctor's life and yet she only knew him for what, a total of 5 hours. Rose had been by his side since his previous incarnation but Reinette believed that her presence was much more important in the Doctor's life. She truly believed she understood him like Rose couldn't.

What arrogance.

Reinette didn't know what it was like to stare a Dalek in the face or wait for almost certain death at the hands of her best friend after he launched a missile at them. No, Reinette only saw it through the Doctor's memories; it wasn't the same. It wasn't fair.

Rose's eyes burned as she recalled the memory of the Doctor's retreating back as he shattered the time window.

Why?

Why leave her behind?

Tears were trickling down her face now.

She had been there for him! Fought for him and still it wasn't enough.

It wasn't enough for him to spare a moment's thought for her, to remember his faithful companion who wouldn't abandon him.

But it wasn't him. Not anymore.

He changed, maybe too much.

Sinking to the floor, Rose was overtaken by desperate sobs. Why did he have to leave her?

Not the new one, the old one. The one who always promised to take care of her. The one who may have been angry and bitter, but also strong and faithful. The one who made her feel wanted, needed.

Oh god, she missed the old him.

Sinking to her hands and knees, Rose dragged the old leather jacket down to the floor with her. She curled into a fetal position around the jacket and cried. Cried for her loss, cried for her best friend who was forced into this situation with her, cried for the pain she experienced and the pain yet to come.

She would not trust him with her heart again; all this new Doctor had ever done was break it.

She was done.

No more.

* * *

Mickey stormed into the console room as the Doctor set the coordinates for Versailles.

"What. The. Hell. Was. That?!"

"I owe her." The Doctor didn't even look at him, which only infuriated Mickey more.

"And you can't wait? We just had a traumatic experience in that era and you want a repeat. I give up; you don't want to fix things. Why don't you just crush Rose's heart even more, since it's all you're really good at."

The Doctor's head snapped up at that last comment. "It's my ship Mickey," he hissed, "and I will do as I please. I do not need Rose's consent, do you understand?"

"Oh, I understand alright, you're a complete bastard. How much are you going to make her suffer, huh? How much longer are you going to rub it in her face that you don't think she's good enough?"

The glare Mickey received from the Doctor chilled him to the bone. In a dark, cold voice the Doctor said, "Not good enough? When have I ever said she wasn't good enough? Rose is more than good enough, she is fantastic and if you knew what's best for you, Mickey Smith, you wouldn't say such a thing in front of me again."

The air was tense between them, neither one going to break the silence first. The TARDIS shook a bit as it landed and the Doctor strolled out the doors before Mickey could protest.

* * *

The Doctor swept into a very ornate bedroom, one he recognized. He saw a figure standing by the fireplace whip around as soon as he stepped into the room.

"My dear Doctor!" Reinette exclaimed. She hurried towards him as gracefully as possible, laying her hands on his shoulders. She pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, but he did not return the gesture.

The last thing he wanted to do was encourage the Madame's affections.

Reinette gave him a bemused look. "What ails you, my angel? Are you unwell?"

The angel bit was getting old quickly; she did have the wrong impression of him and who could blame her? The Doctor had done nothing to rectify her perception of him.

"Nothing. Are you ready? You will like this trip; we're going to the glowing rings Adollan."

She beamed at him. "To travel with you, my Doctor, is a dream I dared not hope for."

"Yes, well, it will be an interesting trip." With Mickey wanting to tear him in two and Rose unlikely to speak to him for a while, he was certain this was going to be an uncomfortable experience.

He was angry with himself. He was forcing Rose to distance herself from him so he could feel the weight of his actions.

This entire ruse was a punishment.

Rose deserved better than him and what he was doing to her only solidified that belief. He was a Time Lord and Rose was a human, he was darkness and she was light. She made him better and how does he repay her? Cruelly twisting everything good about her; making her jealous and angry.

He surprised even himself with this new development.

He was effectively destroying his relationship with Rose, and it was going to kill him.

Reinette gave him another kiss, this time on his cheek where Rose used to give him a goodnight kiss, before grabbing a small bag and handing it to him. Ah yes, she was used to someone else taking care of things for her. He would have to remember that.

He held out his hand as she stepped through the doors of his TARDIS. An angry hiss seared through his mind from the TARDIS; well, that wasn't pleasant. He shot back his own warning as he led the king's mistress up the ramp.

Gasping, Reinette said, "This defies all logic! How is this possible?"

"Oh, just a bit of Time Lord technology."

Reinette leaned into him, wrapping her arm around his. "It's amazing, Doctor. You are amazing, my Doctor." She looked at him with pure admiration.

He cringed, careful not to let her see. Her infatuation may not be unwelcome, at least not by him, but it was a bit troublesome.

When he reached the console, the Doctor spotted Mickey leaning against one of the coral struts on the other side, looking more than unhappy. Mickey kept glaring at him as the Doctor put the TARDIS into the Time Vortex.

Reinette, however, was excitedly talking to the Time Lord and trying to engage him in friendly conversation. He was trying his hardest to not let his conflicting emotions show as he chattered noncommittally with her, ignoring the other man's angry stare.

The Doctor heard a short growl before watching Mickey leave the room out of the corner of his eye. He sighed in relief a bit, catching Reinette's attention.

"You are out of sorts, my angel. Please, what troubles you?" He looked at her with a guarded expression, but gave her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Nothing really, it's just a bit of a tiff with my other passengers. That's all." Avoiding eye contact with her, he moved around the console flipping switches and twisting nobs.

"Then you must put your foot down, my Doctor. That kind of behavior is unacceptable. I can understand what happened when the clockwork men were after me, but now, here on your vessel, you must stop that insubordination."

The Doctor's eyebrows shot up at her statement. Insubordination? What insubordination?

"What?" He was at a loss for words. "I can't control them, Reinette."

"Of course you can. You just need to be firm is all. As I've said, you need to stop that kind of behavior at the root. Imagine them, being critical of you as the master of your household; that deserves a sound reprimand." She was so sure in her belief that the Doctor realized it was going to be difficult to convince her otherwise.

"Reinette, they are not my slaves or my servants; they're my friends." He needed to clear this up before she spoke with either of his companions.

The look on her face would have made him laugh had he not been so worn out. She was confused by his statement. "But they are not of the same status as you, my lord, does that not make them your subordinates?"

"What?! No! No, no, no, they are my friends; companions. There is no status quo on my ship, well, maybe more for fun when Mickey is involved." Especially when he is trying to make the other man jealous by wrapping his arms around Rose's shoulders and pulling her close to him on the jump seat. The seat designated for the driver and his first mate.

She still did not seem to understand, but let it go. He hoped Reinette wouldn't press the issue with Mickey or Rose.

"Well, let me go and show you the wardrobe room. There should be some clothing a bit more fitting for our adventure."

Reinette walked up to him and caressed his cheek lovingly, making the Doctor uncomfortable. He gingerly pulled her hand away from his face and placed it on his arm. She made an unhappy face, but didn't say anything, instead allowing herself to be led away from the console room.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N**: Alright, well this is going to be the last update for a little while because I want to get some writing done on Beware the Shadows. Same thing as usual, if you see any mistakes let me know. This story is un-betaed. Feedback is wonderful and I'm sorry about my slow responses, I'll try to be quicker, please leave a comment or two! :) Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.

* * *

The Doctor was quiet most of the way to the wardrobe room. He really wasn't in the mood to discuss French politics so he let Reinette carry most of the conversation.

When they reached the ancient looking copper colored door, the Doctor held it open for his guest who walked past him into the room, trailing her fingertips along his arm in what she hoped was an inviting manner. He held back a sigh; this was going to be a long and arduous task.

Reinette gasped at the splendor of the large room filled with endless amounts of clothes; it was rather overwhelming for everyone at first. He remembered Rose's first few times in there, back when she would spend hours trying on everything she could get her hands on and he may or may not have caught her in only her undergarments a few times.

He blushed at a few of those memories; not that she knew he'd been there, of course. The Doctor also didn't leave right away when he saw her in only her knickers.

She was a beautiful young woman and he was a perverted old man alright.

And after everything that happened recently, he doubted that she would dance around the console room showing off a pretty number for him that she found; not anytime soon anyway.

They strolled through the racks, searching for something suitable for the mistress. The Doctor pulled out several outfits that would be okay for the terrain and atmosphere, but Reinette insisted on something more elegant with an emphasis on her décolletage. She wanted to draw his eyes to a certain well rounded part of her body, that much was for certain.

He counted down from ten to maintain his patience.

A rustling sound caught the Doctor's attention and he excused himself for a moment to check it out. Reinette wished to go with him, but he told her that she should try on some of the other garments. He quickly led her to a small machine that assisted his companions with lacing and unlacing corsets and hooked it up for her.

He followed the sound all the way to the second floor where the crumpled form of Rose Tyler lay. She was thrashing violently about in her sleep, crying out in a terrified voice. The Doctor rushed to her side, gently pulling her into his arms in an attempt to sooth her.

Her eyes opened full of fear, ready to strike at whatever had a hold on her. She was unfocused, writhing and struggling to get away from him, but he was terrified that she was going to hurt herself if she continued. That's when Rose started scratching at her own skin, trying to tear it open with her fingernails. The Doctor seized her hands and held them away from her, but this only caused Rose to jerk about even more.

She was sobbing, confused about where she was. The Doctor didn't know how to wake her from the nightmare so he just held her close, rocking back and forth while whispering soothing words in her ear.

Eventually Rose calmed enough to whisper in a small voice "Doctor?" before shoving away from him, fully awake.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked coldly.

The Doctor was flabbergasted. There he was, helping her calm down from what must have been an awful nightmare and she's angry with him.

"I…I was trying to wake you up, Rose. You were having a nightmare." His brows furrowed in dismay. He was just trying to help!

"Yeah, well, I can save myself from my own nightmares, thank you very much." By the edge in her voice, the Doctor could tell that Rose was still furious with him. Everything about this situation grated on his nerves; Mickey wanted to throttle him, Reinette couldn't keep her hands to herself, and Rose probably wanted to drop him off at the nearest refuse planet.

He hated this feeling.

"I'll keep that in mind next time." he muttered irritably.

Rose stood up on wobbly legs and a large jacket fell from her lap. A very familiar, leather jacket. The Doctor snagged it before Rose could react and held it up.

Oh.

Well, that, that was…

He couldn't do anything but glare at the offensive object. Is that what she came here for, his old jacket? Was it to remind her of the man he used to be?

But it was still him, he wanted to scream. He was still the man that wore this coat! Why couldn't she see that, why couldn't she understand that he was still the Doctor that she remembered. Just because he wore pinstripes instead of black leather didn't mean he wouldn't risk everything to protect her like he used to!

Except he hadn't protected her…

He almost let her get killed by clockwork droids.

Oh. Maybe she didn't…maybe she thought he wasn't the same man anymore.

Maybe she still believed he was someone completely different from his ninth body. She didn't think he was the Doctor any longer.

He wanted to fix that; for the past several adventures he had been trying to convince her that he was the same man, but was he really?

He never took the time to think about it, at least not in this body. Had he changed so much that Rose did not recognize the man inside? If he had, then there was really no way the Doctor could prove to Rose that he was that man.

What if she thought he was just some copy that went horribly awry in the regenerative process, turning him into a hyperactive chipmunk without much regard for his companions? He hadn't done anything to prove otherwise.

"Rose?" It took the Doctor a moment to realize that was his voice, as it sounded more like a scared child. "Did you come here for this?"

"No." Her reply was blunt and straight to the point. "I found it earlier, not that it's any of your business."

"Not my…not my business?! It's my jacket!" He squeaked out.

"Was, Doctor, it was your jacket. Now it's just another part of the wardrobe. It belonged to…" Rose trailed off, not looking at him.

Ah, she did view them differently, his old self and his new one.

To say that stung would be a severe understatement. He was devastated. Rose didn't like the new him; she didn't want him. She wanted the sarcastic, gruff version.

"Oh," he said in quiet, strained voice, "I-"

"My dear Doctor, there you are!"

Rose's head swiveled towards Reinette, who was climbing the steps to the second floor.

Oh, oh dear.

* * *

Rose would be lying if she said that she wasn't more than a little surprised to wake up to a frantic Doctor hovering close to her face, but that did not stop her from pushing away from him. She still did not want to deal with Mr. My-Ship-My-Rules.

He was still a cad.

The moment he saw the jacket, the Doctor reacted as though it was a poisonous reptile trying to attack him. Rose was shocked by how much like a little boy he sounded. It was as if she had just destroyed his entire banana grove in the TARDIS garden.

Pathetic.

The thought drifted through her mind completely unwarranted. She may want to ban him from having any bananas for the next few days or months, or slap him into his previous regeneration, but she didn't believe the Doctor to be pathetic.

What was happening to her?

She went to comment when the voice of one of the last individuals she wanted to deal with at the moment, aside from the Doctor, pierced her eardrum.

_Great, here comes flouncy_, Rose thought scathingly.

Now she was getting scared; there was something wrong with her. Maybe it was her traumatic experience with the droids that was making her react badly. That had to be it. She didn't know what was going on, but maybe she could check herself out in the Med Bay. If it got really bad, she'd even resort to asking the Doctor for help.

Reinette bustled her up the stairs towards them and that's when Rose got her first glance at the mistress's wardrobe. The Doctor stumbled to his feet as Reinette came walking towards them and Rose whispered harshly in his ear, "You just couldn't wait to get her out of her clothes, could you? Arsehole."

The Doctor turned pale and started rambling about appropriate clothing and that he was just helping. "Of course you were." Rose hissed; she was getting more and more aggravated by the second. "The better to ogle those perky breasts of hers, right?"

Not waiting to hear more of his excuses, Rose stomped away from the Doctor and his precious Reinette towards her bedroom. She didn't want to sleep anymore, but she couldn't stay in the same room as them.

It just hurt way too much and she already felt like she was suffocating.

* * *

The Doctor watched Rose go, knowing that Reinette was probably someone who Rose regarded much the same way she did him at the moment.

"My goodness, what insolence." Reinette commented as soon as Rose was out of their sight. "All the paint on her face is smeared and her behavior! How do you put up with it, my angel?"

The Doctor ignored the pretentious woman and took a look at what she held in her hands. "Is this what you want to wear then?"

She smiled coyly. "Oh, I would love to. Only, I can't get it on myself. It seems that I am in need of assistance."

The Doctor almost told her to get one of her servants to do it, but realized how incredibly rude that would have been. Odd, he never censored himself when Rose was around; she actually thought it was funny when he was rude.

Well, this was a strange situation he found himself in.

Bloody fantastic, he thought grimly.

He looked Reinette up and down, which she took as flirtation, but really wasn't.

"You need to change undergarments; those won't fit underneath this outfit." Reinette immediately blushed at the comment.

Really, humans and their need for propriety.

"Down that hall, take two lefts and then a right. There you should find the right pieces you'll need. Once you have those on, you'll be able to get that outfit on. I need to go check on something. I'll be back in a few minutes."

He hurried away before she could call him back. Right now he just needed to get away from her, even for a little while.

* * *

Mickey was sitting in his room when he saw Rose pass by, face drawn tight.

"Rose!" he called out to her. "Rose, wait a minute!"

When she didn't stop he went after her, concerned. He knew that face; Rose was angry enough that tears were leaking out of the corners of her eyes. Catching her hand, Mickey heard a suppressed sob escape his best friend.

"Oh, Rose, I'm so sorry. He's a jerk." Rose wrapped her arms around his torso and sobbed hysterically into his shoulder. What was the Doctor thinking bringing that woman near Rose? Reinette hadn't exactly been kind to her the first time round, so this wouldn't have been any different.

"She's a rude bint he picked up. Don't listen to her; she's just jealous that you are closer to the Doctor than she is to 'im." They were much closer before France, but that arrogant woman didn't need to know that.

It wasn't any of Reinette's business anyway.

"Look, why don't we go to the media room, turn on some old sci-fi action flick, and make fun of the terrible acting? What do you say?"

Rose sobbed a bit more before turning her head and giving Mickey a watery grin. "Yeah," she croaked out.

Grabbing her hand, Mickey was about to lead Rose towards some awful movie time when he realized something important.

"Where's the media room?" he asked, a blush crawling across his face.

Rose laughed and led the way.

They settled on a movie called "Space Mutiny" that was as terrible as it was funny. Mickey went to the galley to get some popcorn and drinks, narrowly missing a ruffled Doctor. He just gave the alien a hard look before setting back to his task.

"Where's Rose?" The Doctor questioned him.

"With me. She's fine, go take care of your girlfriend." Mickey didn't care how harsh he was to the man, the Doctor deserved it.

The Doctor looked puzzled. "Reinette is not my girlfriend."

"Could've fooled us, the way you chase after her frilly bum."

"Mickey, I'm not in the mood to deal with your sarcasm right now, I just want to know how she is."

Mickey sneered. "Reinette or Rose? Because I'll tell you what I think about that mistress of yours; if she ever belittles Rose again, I will give her a piece of my mind, royalty or not."

"She's not actually a royal, just a noblewoman. And please refrain from embarrassing yourself in front of my guests, would you?"

Mickey bristled. How dare this careless prat tell him off like that! "I really wonder what it was that Rose ever saw in you, especially after you changed. You're a tactless sod, you know that. You have done nothing but make Rose feel terrible about herself and let her get hurt, but do you try to make up for it? No, you grab the nearest whore to give you what Rose won't!"

A hand cut off whatever else Mickey was about to say as the fury of a Time Lord bore down on him. "What. Did. You. Say?" The Doctor's hand tightened with each syllable.

"Mickey, you are one step away from me throwing you directly into the Time Vortex, do you understand? Don't ever refer to Reinette as a whore and don't ever speak about Rose that way again. I don't care if she's your girlfriend or not." The Doctor released his grip, letting Mickey stagger back from him.

He knew fear was shining in his eyes, but who could blame him? He had never seen the Doctor that furious before and he never wanted to again.

Forgetting the popcorn and drinks, Mickey tore out of that room as fast as he could, not looking back. Oh god, what had Rose gotten herself into?!


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N**: Here is chapter 9! Longest chapter yet for this story. Story is un-betaed so if there are any mistakes let me know. I adore feedback so please, please leave some comments! Enjoy! ;D

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.

* * *

Rose loved the media room; it had so many movies and different types of screens to pick from. When Jack traveled with them they would often use their down time in here and watch several alien or futuristic movies, avoiding those that might give away too much information about Earth's immediate future.

Some things were better left unseen.

The chairs in the room looked like half spherical capsules on a quarter tilt with little trays attached to the sides for drinks and food. They were especially good for cuddling after rough adventures too.

Laying her head on the expansive head rest, Rose tried to avoid thinking about the events leading up to her current state. She was just too exhausted and wanted some proper rest, but the nightmares she kept having wouldn't let her. The worst part was that she couldn't remember what happened in each dream; it was as though her mind was blocking the images from her, which was just as well because it was probably about the clockwork droids.

She shuddered.

No, she promised herself to keep those thoughts out of her mind. They might be what are triggering her unusual reactions recently and it was best to keep from getting all riled up about it.

Mickey was taking forever, he might have gotten lost again.

The large movie screen in front of Rose flickered to life, surprising her. The TARDIS usually waited until everyone was ready before starting any film.

That was strange.

And it only got stranger; the screen started showing several videos at once and the volume kept changing on each film, emphasizing certain parts of the dialogue.

"…monsters…"

"…on board…"

"…be careful! We don't know what it is…"

"Protect yourself; we don't know what happened…"

"It's affecting the Doctor, too…"

"…everything is not what it seems…"

"Stop for a moment and think!"

"…you're smart; you can figure this out."

"Prepare yourselves, the Darkness is coming!"

"Stop hesitating; tell—"

The screen went dark again. Rose just stared at it for several seconds; what was that about? Was the TARDIS trying to tell her something? Monsters on the ship, but how? Not even the hordes of Genghis Kahn could break through the TARDIS's shields, so how could monsters get on board?

Rose thought about all of this, still wondering where Mickey got off to. Maybe the TARDIS knew that there was something wrong with her and was doing her best to tell Rose because the Doctor was currently being a royal git.

Rose was just about to get up when the TARDIS shook violently and she was thrown back into the chair.

What was that?!

* * *

The Doctor was feeling strange, as though he were sick. He still couldn't believe how he'd just reacted to Mickey's accusations. The poor man had been through enough already and what does the Doctor do; give him another reason to be afraid.

What happened?

Running a hand through his hair, the Doctor tamped down the rage still coursing through him.

He made his way towards the console room after that episode with Mickey in the galley, needing some time away from everyone; best not to see Rose in the state he was in.

Mickey upset him with his remarks about Reinette and Rose, but grabbing him around the neck? That was not right and completely unjustified.

Even when the Doctor and Rose landed on a patriarchal planet where women were slaves to men and the King backhanded Rose for daring to raise her eyes to his, the Doctor only went all Oncoming Storm on him and threatened to bring down his entire empire.

He never once threatened to kill the King.

Well, that was also back when he'd been a different man. Maybe that's what he had become; someone just like the king of that planet.

Demanding respect instead of earning it.

Was that really what he was? It would explain why Rose and Mickey were so cold to him now; he was a king without a throne.

It might also explain why he brought Reinette with them; to prove that he could have anyone or anything he wanted, the timelines be damned. He was a right mess these past couple days; wait, had it really been that long?

He was losing track of time.

Time Lords never lost track of time.

The Doctor changed his direction to investigate what was interfering with his time sense when the TARDIS heaved and threw him into a nearby wall.

Hitting his right shoulder hard, the Doctor twisted around to avoid any other injury and clung to the wall the best he could.

A loud noise started up; the cloister bell was ringing.

No!

The Doctor took off running towards the console room.

* * *

The TARDIS was tossing enough to throw Mickey to the ground, although a small gust of wind could easily have done the same in his current state. He was still shaking from his encounter with the Doctor.

A door opened in front of him leading into a white and silver tiled room.

"What the…?"

Mickey attempted to stand again but the TARDIS jerked hard and he was thrust into the room, the door closing behind him.

Everything was quiet sans a soft hum coming from what appeared to be a large computer in the middle of the room. The moment the door closed the shaking ceased, allowing for Mickey to regain his balance.

The room was surprisingly massive and appeared much larger than when he first saw it.

The monitor on the computer flickered to life and strange symbols appeared.

The screen sped through each new line of writing quicker than Mickey's eyes could keep up, but then he noticed a shift in the language. English words began scrolling across the screen much slower than the other languages.

He caught words like "shadows" and "darkness" appeared frequently and then finally it all stopped. Mickey didn't know what to do.

Words started to roll across the monitor again, this time in mostly coherent sentences.

"MickeySmith/TinDog/CleverBoy/Friend dangers approaching. Beware! Hide you. Protect you. Safe."

Mickey's bewilderment increased. What was going on? Was the TARDIS talking to him? The sentences then started rushing by even quicker.

"Time almost gone. Must protect MickeySmith/TinDog/CleverBoy/Friend. Wolf in danger. Bad. Thief lost. Thief confused. Protect. Help. Beware! Monsters. Shadows descend. Not all it seems. Thief save Wolf. Protect Wolf! Danger Wolf. Bad Wolf!"

The screen shut off. Mickey could not believe what he'd just seen.

Bad Wolf.

It was happening again, but what did it mean? Wasn't Rose the Bad Wolf? It said that the Wolf was in danger, did it mean Rose? And what was the Thief?

Mickey needed answers and he had to find Rose immediately.

He turned towards the door to go warn his friend only to discover that it was gone.

"Hey! Bring it back! I need to get to Rose!"

The screen remained silent. Mickey began to hit the wall where the door had once been, but nothing changed. His hands were becoming raw from the constant abuse.

Seeing that there was no way out of the room Mickey slid to the floor and put his head in his hands, frustration rolling off him.

What was he going to do?

_Rose_, he thought, _I'm so sorry_…

* * *

The Doctor tripped into the console room to see several of nobs and switches on the console moving on their own.

What was going on? What was his old girl doing?

He grabbed hold of the railing as the TARDIS shuddered, almost knocking him into the side of the console. The TARDIS stopped for only a second, but it was just enough time for the Doctor to throw himself at the console and begin directing the landing sequence for the TARDIS. He was wondering what happened.

Did the TARDIS get caught in a time disturbance?

The TARDIS never reacted like this; something was wrong. The Doctor could sense her fighting him, but he did not know why. He stabilized the TARDIS enough to land her, hoping they didn't end up in a dying galaxy or something of the like.

It was with one last wheeze from the time rotor that the TARDIS landed with a thud. The Doctor stood there for a moment, assessing what just occurred. The TARDIS was not acting like herself and the Doctor couldn't help but think that it had been a while since she had.

A bloodcurdling scream came from down one of the corridors that launched the Doctor into action. Tearing his way through the darkened halls, he found himself outside the door to the wardrobe room.

Oh, Reinette. Right.

Pushing the door open, the Doctor suddenly found his arms full of blonde hair and French perfume. A fearful shaking had overcome the king's mistress as she clung to the Doctor's shoulders.

"Oh my Doctor, what in heavens was that?! Why was your vessel shaking so terribly? Have we been attacked?"

The Doctor carefully extricated himself from the terrified woman, but still attempted to comfort her. This was not something the woman had ever been through before and there was no doubt that she was a few seconds away from potentially fainting.

Reinette was used to be being in control and this type of situation left her without anything to hold onto; it probably shook her to the core. And not for the first time since he brought her on board, the Doctor was questioning whether bringing Reinette with may not have been the best idea, timelines aside.

The woman sniffled a bit and attempted to regain her earlier pride; a noblewoman of the French court was not to be seen in such distress. A well trained calm exterior fell over her face.

The Doctor guided her back to the console room, only to find Rose standing there with a questioning look on her face.

"What's happening?" Rose asked her tone controlled in front of the other two occupants in the room.

Helping a slightly unsteady Reinette over to the jump seat, the Doctor looked at the monitor in confusion. "I don't know." he said carefully.

The cloister bell had stopped as though nothing had gone wrong in the first place, which was something that didn't happen. Whenever he heard the bell it was usually because of some universal threat, but the monitor readout was showing no abnormalities at all.

Something was up and he was going to find out what. Flipping several switches, the Doctor didn't notice that Rose had walked up beside him until she was inches away with a concerned look on her face.

Oh, that was something he missed.

When was the last time the Doctor had seen such a tender expression on her face?

He couldn't remember and wasn't that just depressing. Had he truly been taking for granted all the little things that his precious pink and yellow girl did?

The Doctor almost reached out to brush a strand a hair out of Rose's eyes like he used to, but caught himself before she could notice. It physically hurt to restrain his natural responses toward Rose.

How was he ever going to survive losing her at some point when he could barely stand being away from her?

"Doctor, what's wrong with the TARDIS?"

"What makes you think something is wrong with the TARDIS?" He didn't want to panic her or Reinette, so he tried to brush her off. It was insensitive, but right now he had to figure out what was wrong with his ship.

The look on Rose's face when he said this made the Doctor flinch.

Ah, he forgot how intuitive she was. He was really unobservant nowadays.

* * *

"Don't lie to me! We all felt that, Doctor. Whatever is happening is not normal. I mean earlier she was…" Rose's voice drifted off to a murmur. She couldn't say it, almost as if she was held back by something, but also because the Doctor was likely to claim that what she saw in the media room was just her imagination.

"What did she do earlier?" This caught the Doctor's attention.

Rose avoided eye contact and shrugged. "Nothing, just something I must have dreamed. However, this is different Doctor and don't you dare tell me it's nothing."

The Doctor sighed, "Well, that noise earlier was the cloister bell. It only sounds when something catastrophic is occurring, but there isn't anything showing up. I have no idea what happened."

This was troubling indeed; what could have caused the TARDIS to panic like that? It brought Rose back to what happened in the media room.

The TARDIS was trying to tell her something.

There was a lingering silence for a while before Rose spoke, "Doctor, I think—" but she was interrupted before she could finish that thought.

"My lonely Angel, is your machine broken?" Reinette, who had been looking rather perturbed while Rose and the Doctor were talking, got up from the jump seat to lay her hand on his.

This was not something Rose wanted to see.

Turning away from the scene, Rose waited for him to answer Reinette's question.

"Ah, well, I don't think she's broken so much as something doesn't seem right. She might have caught the wrong end of a paradox somehow, I don't know yet."

Rose shifted uncomfortably as Reinette leaned into the Doctor a bit, the top of her tunic showing off quite a bit of cleavage, much to Rose's chagrin.

Really, Reinette didn't need to go that far for the Doctor to be completely enamored with her. She was just rubbing it in now.

Sensing that the two were in a little world of their own, Rose wandered over to the doors. She knew they had landed, but had no clue where.

Just as her hand touched the wood, a shout from the Doctor made her jump.

"Whoa, wait! Don't go outside, we have no idea what's out there!"

The Doctor broke free of the mistress's claws, er, hands and jogged over to Rose. He tried to grasp her hands but she sidestepped him and backed away as he moved to block her.

She saw his lips purse, but he hid behind his neutral mask. "Rose, we don't know what caused the TARDIS to react the way she did so just strolling out to wherever we landed is completely reckless." he chastised.

"Who are you to judge? You practically invented reckless behavior." Normally this would have been their natural teasing habits, but now it was a harsh jab.

The Doctor looked wounded and turned away from her. "Still, we need to be careful. The monitor won't show me what's out there and I can't tell where we are. Rose please, just stand back while I make sure we're in no immediate danger. The TARDIS has her auxiliary shields up, but you never know."

Rose conceded, having a moment of clarity. She blinked at him. Was she really just going to walk out there without being certain that it wasn't dangerous? She didn't even know if they were even on a hospitable planet or not and yet she was going to step out onto the surface anyway. She could suffocate, freeze to death, or be burn alive.

She shivered at the thought.

"Alright? Let me just check the monitor again to see if anything comes up. Just, don't go out those doors." The Doctor said while gesturing for her to return to the center of the room and away from potential death.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N**: Thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews! I really love the feedback; you guys are awesome! =D With that said, here is chapter 10 for ya'll. Same thing as always, this story is un-betaed and if there are any mistakes please let me know. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Enjoy! :D

**Warning: There are some graphic depictions in this chapter so reader discretion is advised.**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters or anything you recognize.

* * *

The Doctor stopped Rose before she could step out into the unknown space outside the TARDIS. He could not believe that she was going to just walk out the door without much of a second thought. The look on her face almost broke him; she didn't have a clue what she was doing. She was torn between horror and hysteria at that moment and he needed to quell her fears.

"Rose, look at me. You have every right to be furious with me, but please take into consideration that I do know what I'm doing. I know you really have no reason to," he swallowed around the growing lump of guilt in his throat, "but please trust me right now. I'll figure out what's wrong and get us safely back into the Vortex."

The Doctor then walked back over to the monitor to check the atmospheric readings. When he finished analyzing the data he breathed a sigh of relief. The air was sustainable for humans and the temperatures were roughly the same as Earth. The Doctor turned back to his two companions who were pretending one another didn't exist, or at least Rose was.

Reinette was pretending to be interested in the architecture of the console room, but was really sneaking glances at the other blonde; a distasteful expression on her face. The Doctor rubbed his temples. Why did he actually think these two would get along nicely? Reinette was used to having a certain level of respect because of her position as the king's mistress and considering that Rose wasn't even attempting to give her that, the mistress was quite put out.

Rose on the other hand was tense with a hollow look in her eyes. He had never seen her like that before.

"Rose," he asked tentatively, "are you alright?"

It was as if she didn't hear him.

Reinette was curious about his other companion, but didn't make any move towards her. She held herself with dignity and poise, making the scene in the wardrobe room seem as though it never happened.

Turning away from the woman, the Doctor went over to Rose and laid a hand on her shoulder. A small shriek tore from her throat and he jumped back. "Rose?"

Rose turned her eyes to him now and the fear he saw there shocked him. He reached out to pull her into his arms, but she flinched away from him, curling into herself.

"Rose?" her name came out as a strangled whisper. He wanted, no, needed to help her, but he couldn't do that if she just pushed him away.

But wait, hadn't he done the same to her? Pushing her away so that her inevitable departure would hurt less.

No, now was not the time for that. He needed to focus on what was wrong with Rose, but more importantly at the moment, he needed to know what was wrong with his ship. He wouldn't be able to help his companion if they all died from some mysterious circumstance tied to his ship.

With one final look at a distraught Rose, the Doctor whipped around the console flipping switches and analyzing the data the appeared on the monitor.

So far, nothing out of the ordinary was showing up, but that didn't comfort him at all. He growled at the frustration building up in his skull. This wasn't helping!

Shoving away from the console, the Doctor spun towards the door and called over his shoulder towards his two companions, "I'll be right back; I just need to check something."

And he was gone, leaving Rose and Reinette alone in the console room. One companion miffed at being left behind and the other attempting to get a grip on reality, not really noticing the Doctor's absence.

* * *

Rose was shaking, but not just from fear. She actually had to force herself to stay put and not go tearing after the Doctor and she knew why.

She was terrified that he would leave her again.

Leave her alone with no way home.

Rose spent the next few moments collecting herself, knowing that at least he wouldn't just leave the TARDIS and Reinette behind. She was just panicking, that's all.

Ignoring the persistent prickly feeling that told her that there was something else wrong, Rose moved on wobbly legs towards the jump seat.

She rested her head on the back of the seat and took several deep breaths, calming her heart.

"Rose?"

Popping an eye open, Rose turned toward the voice, knowing full well she wasn't going to like what was going to be said next.

"Hmm?"

Reinette was standing in front of her, having moved without Rose's knowledge, not that it mattered. Rose was a little out of it anyway.

"I was wondering if I might have a few words with you."

Nope, definitely not going to like this. Rose braced herself for what she was certain to be an onslaught of criticism against her actions.

Hesitating, Rose answered flippantly, "Sure, why not?"

She opened her eyes fully to see that the other blonde haired woman was not looking at her, but still staring at the doors the Doctor had swept through not too long ago. Reinette took a deep breath and even that seemed elegant. _Great_.

"You and the Doctor," looking up at Rose and steeling her gaze a bit, Reinette squared her shoulders, "have been together for some time, am I correct?"

"Yes."

"And you are close to him?"

_We were_, Rose thought, _until you came into the picture_. Okay, that was unfair; it wasn't Reinette's fault that the Doctor acted like a cad.

"Yeah."

Reinette's lips turned down for moment. "I wonder, have you perhaps met his consort then?"

That caught Rose by surprise. Consort? "A wha'?"

Reinette looked at her disparagingly. "His consort; wife. Has he ever taken you to meet with her?"

"The Doctor doesn't have a wife." Not anymore, at least, but Reinette didn't know that apparently.

Pursing her lips, Reinette gave her a pitying look that did not sit well with Rose. "Then I guess he has not mentioned her to you. That does present a problem; I was hoping to gain her favor before anything happened."

"Wha' the hell are you talking about?" Angry at Reinette's condescending attitude and the Doctor's brush off earlier, Rose had just about enough of these two.

Sitting down on the jump seat as far away as she could from Rose, Reinette stared at the console. "The Doctor's consort, or at least that's what he alluded to her as she appeared to him. I wished to meet with her so as to avoid any consternation towards my presence in his life."

"Again, the Doctor doesn't have a consort or whatever and even if he did I'm afraid she is gone now, along with the rest of his planet. I don't think it best you bring it up with him. And what do you mean your presence in his life? This is only a one trip deal, Reinette." Rose knew it was cruel, but at that moment she felt like being a bit vindictive.

She felt like doing more than that. Her nails were biting into her palms as she tried to stay calm and cool in front of 'Madame de Pompous.' If Reinette wanted to put on airs, fine. Rose would put this arrogant human in its place.

Pathetic meat sack.

It would break so easily if she just wrapped her hands around its neck; snapping it like a twig.

Or she could tear open its gullet and let it drown in its own blood. So many choices, so little life in these creatures. Not as much fun.

Reinette spoke again, completely oblivious to the thoughts swirling in Rose's mind. "He never said that it was an official decision and I'm certain that if I enjoy our adventure I will be able to sway his opinion. And it does not surprise me that you have not heard of his consort as I believe very few people that he trusts are privy to that information."

This snapped Rose out of her dark thoughts completely. "He trusts me! The only reason you even know this is because you barged into his mind like a wrecking ball and practically raided it like a pirate. Do not assume that he trusts you; you are not welcome here!"

A tinge of hurt covered the mistress' face, pleasing Rose immensely. "He has allowed me to walk among his memories, which is true. I'm guessing he told you about that, despite the intimacy of it." She obviously had not been expecting the Doctor to tell anyone else of their experience, probably believing that it was between only the two of them.

Rose sneered when Reinette turned away. "Did he ask for you to plunder around in his head, or did you just barge in?"

The other woman scowled. "I don't see how that is any of your business, Rose." Her voice was scathing.

"My business? My business?! It's because of you that Mickey and I got left behind on that stupid spaceship! It's because of you that I was almost cut to shreds and my organs harvested by homicidal robots! And it's because you, Madame de Fucking Pompadour, that the Doctor decided that his companions' welfare was not nearly as important as his beautifully easy whore!"

Rose's blood was pounding in her ears. Every thought and emotion screaming at her to just slap this arrogant woman right back to the 18th century.

"Rose…"

Turning around at the sound of her name, Rose found herself face to face with the Doctor. His expression was unreadable. Not good.

"Doctor, I…I wasn't…"

"Rose, I think it's time that I take you home."

* * *

The Doctor stepped outside to take a quick look around, checking to see if the anomaly was created by something on the planet, but he couldn't find anything. It was just like Earth, similar fauna and tiny animals, but nothing all that different.

The Doctor had never been here before.

Must be a planet he's never heard of.

He spent several minutes taking readings with his screwdrivers, but his findings were conclusive. Whatever attacked his ship did not come from this planet. It must have happened in the Vortex.

Rubbing some of the tension out of his neck, the Doctor walked back to his ship, hoping that his companions were either ignoring one another or talking amicably.

He was sorely disappointed.

The moment he stepped inside he heard Rose angrily shouting at Reinette, her face merely inches from the mistress' face. The Doctor had never seen Rose so livid before.

"Rose…" he said, attempting to get the angry woman's attention.

She froze at the sound of his voice and turned towards him with a shocked look on her face.

"Doctor, I…I wasn't…"

The Doctor didn't want to have to do this, but there was nothing for it.

"Rose, I think it's time that I take you home."

* * *

Rose just stared at him, her mind reeling. She had not even heard him come in, let alone get so close to her without her noticing.

Take her home? Why?

"What do you mean?"

"You heard me correctly, Rose. I think a few days away from all this will help clear your head. You have been acting out of character since we left the spaceship."

Rose bristled at this accusation. "Yeah, well, you've been acting 'out of character' since you first laid eyes on the blonde tramp over here." she said, gesturing rudely at the other woman who glared at Rose in return.

The Doctor didn't want to leave Rose behind, but he promised Reinette a trip and having Rose there would only cause more tension and resentment between the two women than he thought was necessary.

"Doctor, if I may be so bold," the blonde mistress said.

"When are you not?" Rose hissed, interrupting Reinette.

"Pardon me?" she responded stiffly.

A cold smile crossed Rose's face, causing the other woman to flinch. "You pushed your affections onto the Doctor regardless of how they were received and wormed your way onto a ship where he is the only one even remotely pleased with your presence. You don't think that's bold and intrusive?"

Reinette sniffed and in a calm, but stern voice said, "I am not the one being asked to leave, now am I Rose?"

* * *

The words hit their mark and Rose pulled away physically as well as emotionally. Her face all but crumbled before the Doctor.

The mistress continued as though she had not seen Rose's reaction. "As I was saying, Doctor, perhaps it would be best for Rose to learn some proper etiquette before returning to your vessel. She does not act in a way that is expected of a ward of a lord, such as you. She is obtuse and crude at best and I think a good finishing school would suit her well before she should be allowed to travel with you again."

Reinette sashayed over to the Doctor and stood proudly at his side with a disdainful expression of her face. She was not at all pleased with Rose and for some reason the Doctor seemed to agree with her. Rose's actions recently were wholly out of line and she dared to question his authority on his own ship.

Reinette was right; he was a Time Lord and should be treated as such.

"And as for my affections, Rose, I was not forcing them on him. The Doctor was more than delighted to receive any affection that I was willing to give, unlike some individuals. Of that, I am certain."

The Doctor punched in the coordinates for the Powell Estate.

"Doctor?"

Rose's voice was feeble and scared, almost childlike. She did act like one, constantly jealous when someone else managed to garner his attention. She acted the same way towards Sarah Jane and honestly, it was time she learned that he was the one in charge and her behavior would not be tolerated any longer. Rose was of no position to be giving him orders. As Reinette stated, Rose was entirely out of line.

"Rose, I have to agree with Reinette. Go pack your things. I will decide if you have learned a proper lesson about your position on my ship the next time I pick you up. If not, then I believe that your tenure here will have come to an end."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N**: And here is chapter 11 early because you guys apparently want more angst and rage! :D Just kidding (but not really). So fair warning, you might want to grab a stress ball and stay away from any breakable objects while reading this chapter. This should also clear up some questions (I hope) and, well, stuff. Once again, this is the last chapter for a little while because I've been neglecting some other fics that I desperately want to finish the next chapters on. Sorry. As usual, this story is un-betaed so if you see any mistakes, please let me know. Feedback is wonderful and I know I haven't responded to some of you yet, but I wrote chapter 11 already so I hope you'll forgive me. I will answer you, I promise! Enjoy! :)

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters or anything you recognize.

* * *

Mickey stared in complete shock at the scene that unfolded on the computer screen before him. The screen had flipped on giving Mickey a full view of what happened. He was also able to hear every damning word said to Rose.

That…that stupid selfish bastard!

After everything she's done for him, this is how he repays her?!

If Mickey weren't trapped in this godforsaken room he would have stormed up to the Time Lord and busted his nose and teeth. There was a time when Mickey thought that he wasn't good enough for Rose, not as worthy as her Doctor, but not anymore.

No, Rose was too good for the Doctor and even if things had not worked out between Mickey and her, they still had a good relationship to fall back on.

But the Doctor, how dare he?!

How dare he make Rose feel inferior to that royal bitch just because Rose talked back to him?

Mickey slammed his fists on the desk, fury radiating off of him. This was a complete disaster and he couldn't stop it, not from here at least. He knew something was off with Rose since the moment she woke up. They have known each other for so long that Mickey could pinpoint Rose's emotions from just the slightest shift in expression.

The Doctor either did not have that capability or he was just as affected by whatever was happening to Rose.

Wait.

What if he was?

Mickey may not like the arrogant arse, but he's never before stooped to this level of arseholery. Maybe that's what the TARDIS was trying to emphasize.

A 'dong' noise resounded throughout the room as if to say '_well, duh_.'

"Okay," Mickey said, not sure whether it was to himself or the TARDIS, "if the Doctor is affected by the same thing, then what is it?"

The only answer he received was a variation between exclamation points and question marks. Apparently the TARDIS didn't know what it was either.

The screen started to run through different languages again.

"_MickeySmith/TinDog/CleverBoy/Friend. Danger! Thief. BadWolf. FrenchTart. Infected!_"

Mickey pondered the words carefully. Infected? What did that mean? Was it all three of them? Was he infected too? None of this was making sense.

"_MickeySmith/TinDog/CleverBoy/Friend. Need help. Can't fight alone. Assist. Please_."

"You need my help?" he asked the sentient machine.

"_Yes_."

Plopping back down into the chair in front of the computer, Mickey tapped at the strange keyboard that suddenly appeared. Most of the symbols were in English, but some were in that odd language that he saw all over the console room on post-it notes.

Okay, he thought, this will be interesting.

"What do I need to do?"

* * *

Anguish threatened to crush Rose's heart at the Doctor's announcement.

"You're taking me home?"

It was unfathomable. She was not the guilty party here so why should she go home?

The Doctor sighed exasperatedly. "You heard me right, Rose. Please don't make me repeat myself. Go get your things and be in here within the next hour; no dawdling. There is still the matter of my ship and Reinette's star to attend to."

Rose's feet were glued to the floor, unable to move even if she wanted to.

Agitation covered the Doctor's face as he took Reinette's arm in his. "Rose, are you hard of hearing?" he asked snidely.

Life flooded her veins at the Doctor's cruel question. "You stupid—how can you do this?! What the hell is your problem? I was there for you all this time and suddenly I'm not good enough? To the hell with the both of you!"

Storming out of the console room, Rose wiped angry tears from her eyes as she fought down the growing resentment in her chest. This was too much. She couldn't do this anymore. It seemed that Reinette had a good grip on the Doctor's b—whatever, no more.

She'd had enough.

Yanking the door open to her room, she blindly started shoving random knickknacks and clothes into a rucksack.

Everything had gotten out of hand quickly and Rose was no longer able to handle the Doctor's caustic attitude. After the Doctor's sudden love for the French mistress and the droid attack, Rose wasn't sure of much of anything anymore. Her nightmares were getting worse and he didn't even seem to care.

Her throat burned as she sobbed, eyes blurring so badly that she could hardly tell what she was taking with her. How could she just pack up her life with the Doctor? After everywhere they had been and everything they had been through?

Her first Doctor never would have done this to her. There was something wrong with this new incarnation of him. The one before this one may have been blunt and often callous, but he fought for her.

He even challenged the Dalek Emperor himself in order to save her.

This one, though? No, he would just up and leave her to die on a derelict spaceship with no way home. Oh, and those clockwork droids? Yeah, well no need to make sure they would all shut down when French courtesans were waiting. Who needs the companion that willingly threw herself into danger to save his Time Lord arse?

Apparently not this git.

Rose collapsed onto her bed and curled into a ball, desperately hoping everything that happened these past few days was just one of her terrible nightmares that she would forget the instant she woke up. After a few moments, she rubbed away the rest of her tears and lay there completely numb.

A swirling light caught her attention.

It was the snow globe she got when they went to the Alps; a little conglomeration of mountainous moons that featured some of the best known slopes for skiing. They were staying at one of the lodges when she spotted it.

These snow globes were known for their telepathic capabilities; able to reflect one's state of mind and current thoughts. The Doctor had been hesitant at first, mostly because he refused to hold it saying something along the lines of it being a rubbish toy that was a complete scam.

The moment she held it in her own hands the globe began emitting the most beautiful music and the snow granules inside swirled around until it revealed a scene of two people on a grass covered cliff overlooking a city.

It was a miniature version of their trip to New Earth, right down to the miniature version of herself snuggling against the Doctor's shoulder as they lay on his coat.

Holding it up to get a better look at the scene, Rose swore she could even smell some apple grass too.

The Doctor bought it almost instantly, saying it would make a good memento. She just smiled as he avoided looking her in the eye, blushing right up to his hairline.

He never held it though, but she could probably understand why. After everything he'd seen and done, it would hurt too much.

Now Rose couldn't bear to touch it as she was terrified by what she would see.

As she stared at the snow globe Rose realized with astonishment how quickly everything had fallen apart. And now with Reinette and her nightmares and Mickey…

Rose scrambled off the bed.

Mickey, oh god what was she going to tell him?

_Sorry Mickey, I'm getting kicked off the TARDIS because I'm too common for the French mistress' standards, but hey, it's not like we didn't see this coming_.

He would probably call the Doctor a bloody wanker and tell him to shove his sonic screwdriver up where the sun don't shine.

Rose didn't think she could face Mickey at that moment.

This was such a mess.

As she finished tying off her bag, Rose took one last look around her room, memorizing the smallest details.

Everything was wrong; this situation was wrong, but what could she do?

There was nothing left for her here.

* * *

The Doctor felt something clawing at his conscience telling him to go after Rose and apologize. Apologize for ever suggesting she leave, for saying that she was anything except absolutely fantastic and he never wanted her to change who she was just because of what someone else thought.

But those thoughts were quickly extinguished the moment Reinette smiled at him.

Why had he even invited Rose in the first place?

The Doctor had mingled with kings and queens. He could command the stars if he so wished and yet he wasted his time with a filthy chav and her simpleton of a boyfriend?

Ridiculous.

Reinette was different; she was raised to be extraordinary and exceptional, nothing at all like that immature child who he wasted a regeneration on. She even had the audacity to tear open the console on his TARDIS! Granted, it was to save his life so maybe it was not such a bad thing.

It wasn't that he didn't appreciate his current body, especially aesthetically. He was handsome and attractive, while his former body was more commanding and stately. He liked being fawned over and now he had one of history's most famous lovers to do so.

Why had he not done this before?

Again, that clawing feeling was trying to get his attention.

His head was starting to ache.

The sound of feet drew his eyes to the archway leading to the rest of the TARDIS. Ah, finally.

"Rassilon, are you slow." The Doctor sneered at Rose.

The cold expression he received only grated on his nerves even more; how dare she look at him like that! He was her superior and deserved her respect.

"Sorry, I was busy throwing away all that pathetic trash you bought me. Won't be needing any of it anyway and I'm certain that the Madame would think it too diseased for her hands." Rose briskly walked past him to stand expectantly by the doors.

A part of the Doctor was crying out in agony at the quickly approaching departure of his companion, desperately begging his more rational side to stop this madness. Losing Rose would destroy him, why couldn't he see that?

That was odd. Why would he want the girl to stay? It was obvious that she was not nearly intelligent enough to be traveling with a man of such great importance as himself. There should be no conflict and yet, there it was.

It was unreasonable that a part of him was even remotely upset to see her go. She was a useless companion.

The irrational side, as he was considering it, tried and tried to change his mind and it felt as though his head was being split in two.

His headache was getting worse.

Reinette practically had a death grip on his arm, which he found strange, but he made no attempt to remove her hands. However, the more he looked at Rose, who was turned away from him with slumped shoulders, the more he felt that this was all wrong.

Why was he so conflicted?

Having already set the coordinates for the Powell Estate, the Doctor activated the dematerialization sequence but felt the TARDIS fight against him as he struggled to navigate his ship. "Come now, not you too."

The other part of his mind cheered at the trouble he was having, but it didn't last as with a few quick adjustments, the TARDIS landed with a hard thud a few blocks from Jackie's flat.

Cracking the door open, Rose looked over her shoulder at him agitatedly. "What, you couldn't park it any closer? So much for your driving skills."

"I felt it wouldn't hurt you to walk. Don't be lazy; your legs work perfectly fine." His condescending tone made Rose's shoulders tense.

His mind fought him, screaming in horror as Rose took one last look around the console room, the barest hint of emotion in her eyes. She slowly pushed the doors open all the way before a voice from next to the Doctor stopped her.

"Rose, you might wish to refrain from making a spectacle of yourself once you leave; it is quite unbecoming." Reinette's demure voice floated through the air; a wasp stinging its victim one last time.

Rose turned ever so slightly, her gaze falling on the other woman. "Oh, I won't cry, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, so do not worry about me. Though I should warn you both, by forcing me off this ship you have unleashed something so terrible that the entire universe will tremble in its wake. Something as powerful as it is horrible. Darkness will fall and Hell shall ascend." Her eyes were narrowed into slits, almost completely black.

And with those parting words, Rose left the TARDIS with her head held high.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N**: See, I didn't make you wait too long. It's even a longer chapter. Thank you thank you thank you for all the amazing reviews! XD I love you guys so much and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your words of encouragement. Thank you so much! This story is un-betaed so if you see any mistakes please let me know. Now, onto the story! Enjoy! :D

**Trigger warning: From here on out things are going to get much darker but I warned before that this is a horror story so there are going to be things that make people rather uncomfortable. Read at your own discretion. **

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.

* * *

Rose's final words rang throughout the room as the Doctor watched the doors slam behind his former companion. A terrible feeling settled in his stomach at what she could have possibly meant.

Oh well, good riddance to bad rubbish.

All of a sudden the entire TARDIS lurched into motion and the Doctor fell right into the console by the monitor; Reinette lost her grip on him and fell straight to floor, smashing her face against the grating.

"What?! What's going on?!" He held on as his ship jerked violently.

Reinette screamed as rolled her straight into the Doctor, promptly knocking him to the floor. Winded and a little banged up, the Doctor untangled himself from the hysterical woman clinging to his pant leg and clambered unsteadily to his feet.

The monitor was showing that the ship was being navigated from a different room. Wait, what? That's impossible! Unless…unless it was the emergency control room, but that would mean that someone else was piloting his ship.

There was no one else on board anymore that could have gotten into that—Mickey!

Quickly yanking several levers, the Doctor attempted to wrestle control of the TARDIS back from Rose's stupid boyfriend. This was unbelievable! How dare that little—Mickey was going to get thrown out of the TARDIS the instant he stepped into the console room!

The TARDIS tossed around more powerfully than ever, the Doctor realizing that without proper stability he was never going to be able to take complete control of her again. Mickey had the upper hand in this situation, but he'd be damned if he allowed that Tin Dog to win.

But as soon as the Doctor's hand accidentally hit the wrong nob, he was thrown right into a strut, hitting his head hard. He was vaguely aware of Reinette smacking her head against the grating again, this time rending her unconscious.

As his own consciousness began to fade, the Doctor noticed that the TARDIS had stopped shaking and went almost silent. She was drained and he had a feeling that she wouldn't be moving for some time.

He also became aware of a prickling sensation at the back of his mind. The last thing he thought was that something was coming.

* * *

Mickey Smith hit one last button on the keyboard before the TARDIS told him that she had landed. The Doctor had tried to shake him off but to no avail. The room that Mickey found himself in apparently worked differently than the others as he remained completely stationary as the Doctor and his French fluff were tossed around like rag dolls in the console room.

Mickey noted with satisfaction that the Doctor had been battered and bruised by their little trip through the vortex.

Ha! He deserved it.

Now that the Doctor and Reinette were unconscious, Mickey would be able to finish the rest of the TARDIS' instructions in relative peace. All he needed was some rope and an extra hand and judging by what the TARDIS had shown him, he was about to get an interesting surprise.

A door appeared opposite of where Mickey was sitting and he was about to get up when something on the screen caught his eye.

"_MickeySmith/TinDog/CleverBoy/Friend. Beware! Extreme Danger! Find Wolf! Hurry! Or Death Will Find Wolf! Darkness Moving. Hurry! Captain Will Help!"_

Mickey knew what he needed to do and with that thought he left the room in search of a storage closet.

After some searching he found just what he was looking for and hauled it all with him to the console room where he found the Doctor and Reinette still unconscious on the floor. Mickey went to step around the Doctor, who was blocking the ramp, but 'accidentally' kicked him in the gut.

Hmm, it was not nearly as satisfying if the twat wasn't awake to feel it.

Strolling over to the doors, Mickey opened them just in time for someone to barrel into him, knocking them both to the floor.

"Oof! Oi, what the 'ell you do that for?!" Struggling under the heavy weight pressing to his chest, Mickey shoved hard at the person lying on top of him.

The person pushed off of Mickey and reached a hand down to him in assistance. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Mickey Smith! Have you been working out recently? You're looking good and felt even better."

"Save it, we don't have time for that! I need your help."

Mickey stepped back to get a good look at the TARDIS' newest passenger.

Captain Jack Harkness.

He was standing there wearing his old gray coat, a backpack, and a cheeky grin.

"Oh, really? What is the prob—who are they?" Jack pointed at the unconscious figures by the console.

"That's what I need help with. See, we ran into some trouble on this spaceship in the 51st century. Well, there were these windows, but they weren't really windows, more like time windows. Anyway, the Doctor went investigating, that's him there by the way," Mickey jabbed a finger at the crumpled form on the floor, "and found these clockwork droids trying to dissect Madame de Pompadour to use her brain for the ship's main computer. That make any sense?" Mickey said in a rush and he was a bit flustered at explaining the situation, not sure how Jack would take it.

"51st century and time windows? Could have something to do with Time Agency. Some things were too sensitive to send via transport so they had to do it the old fashioned way. I think I have an idea of what you're trying to explain. Anything else?" Jack shrugged off his pack and set it down beside him.

"Well, I think the Doctor is possessed by something, but he's knocked out sooo…"

"Sooo, we should take the Doctor and Rose to the Med Bay first, we don't know what kind of injuries they might have." Jack sidestepped Mickey and started walking up the ramp towards the console.

Mickey hesitated before following him. "Um, that's not—that's not Rose, Jack."

Jack stopped a few feet away from the unconscious blonde and a look of surprise covered his face. "Is that who I think it is?"

Mickey walked up to Reinette and grabbed her under the arms, hoisting her up for Jack to partially see her face. "This is the king's mistress, Reinette, or better known as Madame de Pompadour. The Doctor picked her up for a trip, although it seems that he was planning on keeping her around much longer than that." The bitterness in his tone caused Jack to narrow his eyes in confusion. Just by looking at his face, Mickey could tell he was putting the pieces together.

"Where's Rose?" his tone was curt.

"He kept this one and tossed Rose out a few minutes ago. I managed to steer the TARDIS here, or rather, she steered us here. I just did the manual stuff."

Jack was stunned by all the information that Mickey had just prattled off, but right now they had bigger things to worry about. "Oi, you going to stand there all day or are you going to help me drag these two to the Med Bay. We're going to have to tie them up though, something else came with us from that spaceship. At least I think it was the spaceship. It might have been France, but I doubt it. Although the Doctor might be getting a different type of infection if I left these two alone long enough." He snickered at his own joke and started to haul the blonde towards the hallway.

Jack stayed silent for a few seconds before leaning over and hooking his own arms under the prone Doctor. Unlike Mickey though, he picked the Doctor up and tossed him over his shoulder, surprised by how heavy the skinny man was and followed Mickey towards the Med Bay.

* * *

Jack Harkness had come up with many scenarios of how his first meeting with the Doctor in a very long time would go, but this caught him by surprise. He never expected to be carrying an unconscious Doctor, one he didn't recognize, towards the infirmary of the TARDIS after discovering that the man had unceremoniously tossed out one of the most important women in his life. That did not sound at all like the Doctor he knew.

"Mickey, what led to all this?"

"In a minute. I'll explain everything once we secure these two." Mickey laid King Louis XV's mistress on the floor before tying her hands and feet together.

Jack was already thrown by the whole situation and waited for Mickey to finish before he did anything with the Doctor.

"Shit, I'm outta rope. Here, let's just use the restraints on that chair over there for the Doctor. I get the feeling we should try to keep these two as far apart as possible."

Dropping the Doctor onto the chair that Mickey indicated, Jack winced as the man's head bounced rather painfully off a piece of nearby equipment. "He is going to have one hell of a headache when he wakes up."

"He is going to have a one hell of an arse-ache once I'm finished kicking his."

Mickey worked on strapping the Doctor's wrists in place whilst Jack did his ankles. Once he was certain the Time Lord would be unable to break free, Mickey gestured to a set of chairs on the other side of the room.

"Sooo, care to let the peanut gallery in on this whole mess?" Jack wanted to know what happened to not only the Doctor, but also to Rose, who seemed to bear the brunt of everything that had happened. He was furious that the Doctor would actually make her leave.

Then again, the Doctor left him behind so maybe that's just what he does, but that probably had more to do with the Doctor not wanting to share her with Jack. None of this explained why Mickey was here and Rose wasn't. The Doctor would sooner drop the man off somewhere in London than ever let Rose go.

Mickey settled into one of the chairs and leaned back as he let out a deep breath. "Short story, it all started when we found this ship that had those time windows I told you about. These clockwork robots were after the Madame over there because her brain was important to them for some irrelevant reason, but not until she was thirty-seven. The Doctor starts going through all these windows, alone, left Rose with me, which should have been our first warning. Normally those two are connected at the hip."

A low moan came from the restrained Doctor, but he didn't awaken.

Mickey shrugged. "Apparently we couldn't use the TARDIS because we were 'part of events,' which didn't make any sense."

Jack frowned. "We always become a part of events wherever we land and we were still able to use the TARDIS. Sounds more like a bullshit excuse."

"It was and even the Doctor didn't know why he said it, but after these past few days I think I get it. Kind of. Anyway, so we find the right window and the Doctor doesn't even stop to consider the consequences and hops on a horse, did I mention there was a horse that followed him onto the ship, and just smashes the window to save Reinette. Yeah, just up and leaves us. Rose was devastated. She hardly said anything or moved away from her spot until…"

Jack listened very intently to Mickey's side of what occurred the last few days. It seemed that whatever happened on that ship to cause the Doctor's current condition was an outside force and potentially very dangerous. "Yeah, what happened?"

"The droids attacked us; Rose and me. See, they were supposed to shut down right after the glass broke but they didn't. If anything, they became much more aggressive after the Doctor left. They managed to separate Rose and me and nearly killed her in the process if I hadn't shown up with a freeze gun." Mickey finished solemnly.

Nothing added up. The Doctor left not only Rose and Mickey behind, but the TARDIS too? No, that just couldn't happen. And yet, it did.

Something was going on.

"Alright, and what happened afterwards?" Jack asked.

"Rose sustained a pretty nasty gash in her side and I managed to patch her up until the Doctor returned which, as far as I knew at the time, might have been never. However, he eventually found his way back but damn, did Rose slap him hard. Okay, so she wasn't exactly rational at the time due to her high fever, but it was great! The Doctor managed to fix her up, but there were a few times when she came close to losing the fight."

Jack felt an intense cold rage consume him.

Rose was the one that had saved him that night after the nanogene incident. If not for her, he would have died in the middle of space all alone, but no; Rose Tyler was having none of it and she made the Doctor come back for him. As much as he loved the strange, two-hearted alien, it was Rose who had been his savior.

And Jack was righteously angry at the stupid git.

Mickey still hadn't finished his story and Jack made sure that he kept his expression calm.

"When she healed up enough, Rose let into him and gave him hell for what he'd done on that ship. I had done the same earlier, but not like that. Oh, you should have seen her! Anyway, it seemed that she finally managed to get through to him, but after he came back from brooding for a while it was like a switch flipped. All of sudden he wants to go pick her up," Mickey points at the sleeping woman, "and starts treating Rose like she meant nothin' to 'im. I wanted to help her, but the TARDIS locked me in a large white room so I was stuck watching them on a computer screen."

"Really? How'd you end up there? Get lost?"

Mickey shifted uncomfortably, "No, 's more like the Doctor tried to strangle me in the galley. Scared the hell out of me."

Jack was flabbergasted. "What?! The Doctor tried to strangle you?!"

Before Mickey could answer, a groan pulled their attention again towards the chair the Doctor was strapped to.

Ah, it seemed that they were going to be getting some answers about all this madness soon.

* * *

Rose found herself standing a few blocks away from the Estate, but she had no idea how she got there. The last thing she fully remembered was walking down the hallway toward the console room. Everything after that was hazy.

She remembered hearing the Doctor talking and her responding, but not the exact words that were spoken. After packing her bag, Rose intended to make one last ditch attempt to convince the Doctor not to kick her off the TARDIS but now here she was, standing alone on a street.

At night.

The distant sounds of the city life did nothing to quell the fear that had been building since before she even left the TARDIS. She knew that she should be upset that the Doctor had just left her behind, again, but she was so exhausted that she couldn't even muster the energy to be depressed.

She hadn't even walked half a block when the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. A hand pressed hard against her mouth to prevent her from screaming, but that didn't stop her from trying.

No!

She struggled and felt more hands grasp her wrists and pin her down; there was more than one person!

The worst possible scenarios were running through her head as she thrashed about and tried to pry herself free but that only lasted until a needle was injected into her arm.

Cold fear almost swallowed her whole and she couldn't help begging whatever deities that might exist to keep her from falling asleep but still her vision dimmed as the world around her went dark.

Please, please! Somebody please help her…


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N**: Hello everyone! I have brought you the next chapter! And I have to say some of you have made me cry a bit with your reviews; they are just so wonderful! Thank you so much! :') I will try to get back to everyone soon. I'm really trying to get the next chapters out to you as soon as I can so keep your eyes out for those.

This story is un-betaed so if you see any mistakes, please let me know. Feedback is always gratefully appreciated! :)

Enjoy! :D

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.

* * *

Mickey and Jack watched as the Doctor slowly came back to the land of the living and knew the exact moment when all those bumps and bruises made their presence known. He winced and tried to grab his head but his bonds prevented him from moving more than a few inches.

"What?"

Mickey almost laughed at the other man's confusion.

"Welcome back. I hope you're comfortable, actually, no I don't, 'cause guess what? You are going to be that way for a while. Now, we want some answers." Mickey hissed as he drew closer to the restrained Time Lord.

"Mickey? Ugh, my head." The Doctor opened his eyes only for a moment when he shut them against what was surely a stinging headache. Mickey smirked.

"Yeah and it's not just me. There is someone else here that wants to have a few words with you too."

The Doctor, eyes still closed, murmured in a pleading voice. "Rose?"

Snorting, Mickey shook his head, forgetting that the Doctor couldn't see him. "Nah, she's still in London where you left her, you git. Why don't you take a look for yourself and see who has been waiting for you to wake up."

Sweat appeared on the Doctor's brow as he struggled against the cuffs holding him to the chair, but he still wouldn't open his eyes. "Who is it then?"

Jack shot Mickey a confused look, not sure what to do. He just shrugged and indicated that Jack should speak. He watched as the other man stepped forward, but just as Jack had placed his foot on the floor the Doctor cried out in agony.

Alarmed, both of them shot forward to check what the problem was only to have the Doctor scream even louder. Jack drew away first and the Doctor visibly relaxed.

Well, that was interesting.

* * *

As the Doctor continued his attempts to tug his way free, Jack kept backing up until he hit the wall. What was that all about? The Doctor couldn't even see him and yet he reacted like a caged animal.

Maybe it had something to with the thing possessing him.

"Mickey," he said as quietly as he could, hoping that the Doctor wouldn't hear him. It didn't work. The Doctor began to growl and jerk about. "Tell me exactly what you know about this 'thing' in him."

"The only information I know is what I saw firsthand and what the TARDIS told me."

Edging around the room, Jack looked around for something else to tie the Doctor down with because he was already starting to tear through those restraints. Who knew what would happen if he broke free.

Without even realizing it, Jack had come within few feet of the Madame and noticed her rather odd state. She was grunting and writhing around as though trying to escape from him and yet she wasn't even conscious. Puzzled by what he was seeing, Jack leaned down and touched her shoulder.

And she let out the loudest shriek that Jack had ever heard a human make.

Jack stumbled back and landed right on his rear, ears ringing and shocked beyond reason. A ripping sound caught his attention; the Doctor had torn off one of the restraints around his wrists and was about to do the same to the other. Mickey ran out the door leaving Jack alone with the two possessed patients.

Jumping to his feet, Jack surged towards the Doctor to hold him down as long as he could. As soon as he grabbed hold of the Time Lord's shoulders, a mighty howl tore from the Doctor's throat. Jack struggled to hold him down as the surprisingly strong alien almost overwhelmed him.

The Doctor had just knocked Jack to the floor when Mickey ran back into the room carrying a strange set of chains and cuffs. Mickey ducked out of the way of the Doctor's flailing arm as he tried to deter him from his task; he tossed Jack a set of chains and attempted to restrain the Doctor again.

It was only with Jack's help and a bit of maneuvering that they were finally able to cuff the Doctor to the chair again. They connected the chains all together underneath the chair so the Doctor would have to pull the entire thing off the floor in order to get free and, even with his Time Lord superiority, he could not break free of them.

The entire time they were pinning him down, the Doctor was making some of the most terrifying screams and noises. It was horrifyingly animalistic.

"Doctor! Doctor, calm down! It's alright; we're just trying to help!" Reasoning with the Doctor was not working as he fought even harder.

There was one thing he could try, but Jack never wanted to resort to that type of method however at the moment there wasn't any other choice.

Crack!

The Doctor's head hit the headrest with a hard thump after receiving a powerful blow from Jack. Everything in the room went quiet except for the dull hum of the TARDIS and the nonsensical whimpers coming from Reinette.

For a moment, Jack was worried that the Doctor would only begin snarling again but he was surprised when a weak "Jack?" escaped the man.

Mickey and Jack shouted in success as the Doctor regained some coherence again.

Bleary eyes cracked open and in a ragged voice the Doctor said, "My cheek hurts terribly; did someone just hit me?"

Mickey gave Jack a proud grin, although he might have seen a bit of envy there; he probably wanted to be the one who did it. Ignoring Mickey's look, Jack leaned toward the Doctor and began his questioning.

"Doctor, can you tell me what's happening? You have never acted like this before and you know it. There is something inside of you."

"I know," the Doctor ground out between gritted teeth. His muscles were tense and straining against the chains. "It's in me and it's trying to…control…argh!" He closed his eyes and threw his head back violently, beating his head against the headrest.

"Doctor!" Jack grabbed the Doctor's head to prevent him from knocking himself unconscious again. He held on until the Doctor stopped trying to get away from him. After a few seconds he opened his eyes, a painful expression on his face.

"Hello…Jack."

Smiling but not letting go, Jack said, "Hello to you too. Bit of an unusual circumstance we've found ourselves in, no?"

"Yeah, unfortunate this is. Bit of a life or death situation I've gotten myself in." The Doctor winced a bit, but he didn't pull away.

"And how is that any different than normal?"

A weak laugh escaped the Doctor. Jack pulled away, but just as soon as his fingers released the alien's head the Doctor started to convulse again.

"Jack," he bit out, "this may seem like a strange request, but I need you to touch me."

There was a second of hesitation on Jack's part, not sure if he should really do so but the Doctor's spasms only worsened and his decision was immediate. Reaching out, this time grabbing hold of the Doctor's hands instead, Jack waited again until the Doctor calmed.

"Thanks." After a few more labored breaths, the Doctor spoke, "This thing must be time sensitive and you, Jack, have frightened it. It doesn't know what to make of you."

Mickey was the first to speak, "That's why she brought us here. She must have figured out what this thing was, or at least what it reacted to. But wait, why Jack?"

The Doctor and shifted on the chair, trying to look anywhere but directly at Jack. Another curious bit that hurt; why was the Doctor so uncomfortable around him? He never used to be.

As though sensing his internal question, the Doctor began to explain a few lingering questions that Jack has had for a long while now. "Well, as far as I can tell, the creature is very sensitive to time and, Jack, you are one of the biggest anomalies around. Literally, a walking fixed point. Which, no offense Jack, for me, as a Time Lord, means that it is really uncomfortable to be around you, but it also means that the creature or parasite is all the more sensitive to you."

To say Jack was stunned would be an understatement. He was a fixed point? But how? How could this have happened? What really happened on Satellite 5?

Again, the Doctor answered his thoughts. "Rose. She's what changed you. She became the Bad Wolf and couldn't stand the thought of you dying so she brought you back to life."

"Bad Wolf? But how could she do that?! She's just human, isn't she?"

"She looked into the heart of the TARDIS, Jack, and no one is supposed to see that. She took all of time and space into her head, but it was too much and she was killing herself. She couldn't control it, Jack. She wiped all those Daleks out of existence and gave you so much life that now you don't stay dead." Winded, the Doctor let himself lay there and rest a bit.

Everything was out in the open. Jack now knew why he was the way he was; why he couldn't die and stay dead. He thought he would be angry, but to know that it was his Rosie's love for him that brought him back, well, how could he be? It wasn't a malicious act at all and something so completely Rose.

A shuddering growl came from across the room and all three men looked over to see the Marquise de Pompadour practically hissing at them.

Ah, Jack forgot about her.

"So, Doctor, how do we get that parasite or whatever it is out of you?" he asked.

Looking away from the woman, the Doctor grimaced. "Well, the thing is…and I really don't want to do this, but there may be a method. Something that you're going to need a strong stomach for. Mickey doesn't know how to use the equipment in here as well as you do, Jack, so it's got to be you. Will you help me?"

Knowing that whatever the Doctor had planned was something he wouldn't soon forget, Jack merely nodded in resignation. There was too much at stake to start getting squeamish now.

* * *

There were several creatures surrounding Rose, each one smiling cruelly at her. Their ghoulish grins made Rose's skin crawl and she knew that they had the upper hand.

"Not much longer now." One of the creatures hissed close to her ear.

"Yes, soon we will feast and be returned to our former glory!"

"She will not be missed and why would she? Pathetic and weak. Useless."

"She is cattle; food."

Rose was crying, her limbs numb and frozen in the barren landscape. There was nothing around her except for the metal table she was bound to and the mass of creatures. She shivered as the numerous beings swarmed around her, the crowd so thick that she couldn't see an end to it.

They were right. How could she possibly be anything worthwhile?

Nothing.

She was nothing.

Not to these creatures.

Not to the Doctor.

Not to anyone.

Who would want her anyway?

She was not good enough; not for anyone.

And she never would be.

* * *

She couldn't move either her arms or legs and the air hummed like an electrical current. It was beyond disorienting and Rose wasn't sure if she was even awake.

She remembered her dream.

It was terrifying.

She gagged a bit when she discovered that there was a tube running down her throat and something keeping her jaw wedged open. She could breathe, which was the only comfort she had.

Opening her eyes, Rose blinked at the glaring light above her.

The cool metal against her back gave her a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Oh god, she was on an operating table!

She started struggling against her bonds, screaming into the gag.

No! No, no, no, no, no! Oh please no!

What had she been doing before this? Her memory was so fuzzy.

A scratchy male voice came over an intercom in the room. "Ah, so lovely to see you awake finally. That's good; it means that we can start soon. We have hooked up wires to your head and the rest of your body; it is probably too technical for you to understand so we'll just skip the description of what they do. All you need to know is that they will be able to read your thoughts, more or less. Now I have some questions for you and you will answer them truthfully or there will be consequences. Just think the correct answer and we'll move onto the next question, but answer untruthfully or not at all and we'll resort to some…ah…harsher methods of interrogation. Are we clear?"

When Rose didn't respond quickly enough, a massive shock wracked her system from the wires. Her jaw locked around the gag as she convulsed. Now she knew that it was there to prevent her from biting her own tongue off.

"Ah, now, I believe I already told you what would happen if you didn't answer. Consider that a warning. Now, let's start with our first set of questions, shall we?"

Tears of agony and exhaustion were leaking down the sides of her face as Rose tried not to make any mistakes again during the questioning, but found that even if she answered the questions truthfully it still wasn't enough. They wanted answers she didn't have and took out their frustration on their prisoner.

Between the violent questioning and her horrible nightmare, Rose's mental shields started to crack and the darkness began to completely overwhelm her mind.

Had it not been for the gag, Rose's jailers would have seen her deranged smile.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N**: Hello! I have a new chapter for you! :D Things are getting rather interesting and plotty. Same thing as always, this story is un-betaed so if there are any mistakes, please do not hesitate to let me know. Please leave feedback, I love and appreciate every one of your reviews from the bottom of my heart! Thanks! :)

And a great big thank you to everyone who has left me reviews and feedback on my story, I am absolutely delighted that you are all enjoying this story and I hope I can continue to keep you entertained. Thank you! =D

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything except the clothes on my back. And my soda. :D

* * *

Jack swiftly gathered everything the Doctor had told him they would need for the 'extraction.' At the current moment, the Doctor was babbling incoherently in the chair and Reinette had added spitting to her repertoire of crazy animal antics. Looking rather green, Mickey set up a table next to where the extraction would take place.

The Doctor had been very thorough about what the exact procedure would entail and it left the two other men apprehensive about if it would even work. Mickey was concerned that if this did not work it was likely that the Doctor would revert back to acting like a rabid animal.

Or possibly regenerate.

Reinette was still trying to get out of her bonds and Jack made sure that not only were her wrists secured but that she was also tied to one of the dental chairs in the far corner. She would not be going anywhere.

"Alright," Mickey said, still not certain about the extraction but there wasn't time to find another solution, "ready?"

Jack grabbed the machine that they were going to use on the Doctor, a medieval looking device that would burrow into his body to extract the organism, or whatever it was, before it regained control of the Doctor again. He swallowed, "As I'll ever be."

The Doctor was already beginning to jerk at the chains again before Jack stepped up to him, setting the machine on the nearby table, and took hold of the Time Lord's head. It took longer than last time and that really worried the two men, but eventually the Doctor came around again. They needed to get this done with so they could fix Rose, well, and Frenchie, as Mickey had decided to nickname Reinette.

As the Doctor came back to himself he gave the other two men a solemn warning; no matter what happened, no matter how much he begged, do not stop the machine until it's done. Jack and Mickey exchanged looks until the Doctor elaborated; the machine was going to hurt, a lot.

Mickey asked why they couldn't just give him an anesthetic but the Doctor stressed that he would probably burn right through it in his condition because the creature was putting forth quite a bit of energy just to regain control of his body. They would have to see this through till the end, no matter how much of a fuss he put up.

Mickey and Jack soon found out just how much of an understatement the Doctor's 'fuss' would be.

Opening the front of the bound man's shirt, Jack hooked the machine up right over the Doctor's twin hearts and felt the man tense. Chancing a look at the man's face, Jack saw just how terrified the Time Lord was about this procedure.

"Are you good, Doctor?"

"No, but it needs to be done," the Doctor rasped out, panic tingeing his voice, "just do it like I told you."

"If that isn't something I've always wanted to hear." Jack attempted a smirk, but it ended up a grimace.

Picking up a large bit of leather that came from an animal he had never heard of, Jack carefully stuffed the larger portion into the Doctor's mouth and tied it around the back of his head. It would prevent him from clamping down on his tongue. Turning the device on, Jack stood back as it warmed up. The Doctor told them that they would need to stay back until the device turned off; only then could they be certain it was done. In a full-fledged panic now, the Doctor tried to dislodge the machine but the instant he jerked two clawed arms shot out of the machine and buried straight into his chest, latching onto each of his hearts.

Muffled screams filled the infirmary.

The Doctor sobbed as spasms wracked his form, the machine working his body to yank the infection or parasite out of him.

This went on for what felt like hours as Jack and Mickey prevented themselves from running over to the Doctor and yanking that horrible device from his chest. They knew it was going to be bad, but neither one of them would ever forget the Doctor's cries for help for the rest of their lives.

Time passed slowly and the Doctor's pleas turned to whimpers and his contractions became twitches.

And then silence.

Not even the mistress made a sound.

The device shut off and the Doctor did not move. His eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. Slowly, Jack made his way over to the immobile man, noting that the leather piece in the Doctor's mouth had been nearly chewed through completely; less than an inch of leather remained between his bruised lips. Jack removed the leather gag and saw that there was blood staining it from where the Doctor had pierced through with his teeth, but after a quick inspection Jack found that it was only a superficial wound that would heal quickly.

The machine had retracted the arms and Jack removed it from the Doctor's chest, which barely moved. There were two large bruises where the machine dug into the Doctor, but the incisions were surprisingly small. The machine was precise and at least that was something to be thankful for the Doctor explaining earlier; no need to do emergency heart repair. He checked his pulse and found it weak and thready. At this point he didn't know what else to do; what do you give a Time Lord after they fight off an invasive parasite?

Luckily, the Doctor's heartsbeats steadily strengthened and his breathing evened out.

Both men sighed in relief at the encouraging sign.

Mickey went over to check on the quiet woman in the corner only to discover that she was lying limp on the floor, completely unconscious. Jack replaced the machine where he found it and waited over by where Mickey was standing by the mistress until they were certain the Doctor wouldn't lash out at them.

A wheeze came from the exhausted man as he woke up, his throat sore and extremely dehydrated. The chains around his wrists had dug into his skin so badly that he could feel the blood starting to trickle down his palms.

Everything hurt, but mostly his chest.

The creatures did not want to leave and they almost forced him to regenerate to stop the machine, but he held on those last few seconds. He held on with everything he had and he would love nothing more than to fall into a healing coma to fix all the damage done to his internal organs.

He felt mangled and broken, but alive. So very alive.

"Jack," his name was barely a whisper, but the immortal man heard the plea in the Doctor's voice loud and clear. Jack rushed over to the Doctor and leaned in close, hoping to calm the man despite his initial response to Jack.

But a subtle wince made Jack back away again as the Doctor feebly attempted to put some distance between them. An apologetic look appeared in the Doctor's slightly unfocused eyes, but he still didn't draw any closer to the other man.

Jack ignored the emotional pain of the Doctor's rejection for the time being and motioned for Mickey to remove the Doctor 's chains holding him to the chair. "Doc, are you okay now?"

The Doctor merely nodded and concentrated on keeping his breathing calm. "Yeah, it should all be in the canister in the device."

After Mickey removed the first cuff, the Doctor saw just how much the chains had torn his skin apart on his wrists. It was bad, but not the worst that he's ever had and certainly not the last time it will happen. A few minutes under the dermal regenerator and it would be as good as new.

Exhaustion wracked the Doctor's system and he wasn't certain just how long he would be able to stay awake. Sleep was pulling him under and before he even realized it, the Doctor was asleep.

* * *

The TARDIS felt the moment the creature's influence over the Doctor had lifted, but they weren't out of the woods yet. There was still the matter of the French courtesan to attend to and the rescue of her Wolf.

Though they had managed to rid her pilot of the infection, there was still a slight influence from the creature dampening her capacity to see all the timelines, but there was something that needed to be done first.

The Doctor and she were going to have words.

* * *

It was like floating in warm water without the oppressive weight on his chest and he could only describe the sensation as pleasant and welcoming, as if he were in a mother's womb.

'_Wake_.'

A gentle nudging at his mind forced the Doctor to open his eyes, but he discovered that he was no longer in the Med Bay. No, he was nowhere and everywhere all at once.

"TARDIS?"

'_Yes. Danger is approaching, my Thief. Beware the Darkness. It consumes all. Our Wolf needs you. Now more than ever._'

"What? But how are you doing this?"

'_No time. Later. My warnings have gone unheeded by you. The repercussions have been most severe. No more. Listen. You must listen._'

The Doctor was incredulous. "But-but-but how?! You have never been able to do this before!"

'_Indeed. It takes much energy to do this and I am already so tired. Listen!_'

Flinching from his ship's reproach, the Doctor snapped his gaping mouth closed and decided to do as he was told. "Okay."

'_The French one has brought the plague with her. It started with her. The ship. The ship was struck by something. Something that it was not. Something that was not what it seemed._'

"What? What was it hit by?"

'_Ions. But it was not. A ruse. A disguise. Hiding in plain sight. It shrouds itself._'

Befuddled, the Doctor contemplated what that meant. This creature, or whatever it really was, came aboard the ship during the ion storm that knocked out the systems on board.

"But there isn't a creature that can do that! There has never been a living organism that the Time Lords ever recorded disguising itself as an ion storm."

'_There are more things on heaven and earth, my Thief, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. You don't know it by name, my Thief, but by legend. It hides in the dark matter of the universe, but no longer. It seeks sustenance._'

The Doctor grinned a bit as the TARDIS loosely quoted one of his favorite lines from Hamlet. "Well, I don't remember learning anything about this creature so you might as well tell me."

'_Foolish one. Listen. It bears no name, for to give it a name gives it power. It lurks in the darkest shadows of the universe. Destroying all in its wake. Remember the story. Remember nothing._'

"Remember nothing? But you just told me to remember the story!"

'_Remember nothing! Thief, remember nothing!_'

"What?! I don't get what you're trying to tell me! Remember nothing? What does remember nothing mea—!"

No. It couldn't be. It just couldn't. Of course he had heard all of the Time Lord legends; a few of which he created himself, but there were a couple stories from the Dark Times that had dubious content. Stories that even haunted his dreams at the Academy and for many years after, but that's just it; they were just stories, legends from before modern society.

Ghost stories.

But there was one in particular from before Rassilon and the Time Lords; one that stood out amongst the rest.

A legend about creatures with no names.

Like the Toclafane, they were the things of nightmares, but they were only meant to be a child's boogeyman.

But then the Time War happened and things that he never believed real came out and joined the fight. If those things were alive and roaming the universe at one point then that story might just have some truth to it as well.

He shivered despite the warmth surrounding him.

"TARDIS, they just…they can't be real. It's just not possible. It's just a legend."

'_You know I speak the truth, my Thief. You know the legend. Now you must decide. Decide. Will you save our Wolf or let her suffer. Choose._'

Choose? Choose what? Of course he would save Rose! "There is no choice to be made. I am going to get my Rose back even if it kills me, again!"

He never noticed his slip of tongue, but that just made the TARDIS rest assured about him now. Although she was still absolutely furious at him and would punish him later, she was quite certain that a lot of what happened aboard that ship and what occurred afterwards was a direct result of the parasite. Well, maybe two thirds certainty.

This incarnation was rather fickle at times.

And she would crush those creatures the first second she got. A black hole would make a nice home for them.

For now, though, she must concentrate on saving their Wolf before she was lost to them forever.

And the TARDIS would never allow that to happen.

* * *

Derek Allens was furious. How dare that stupid cow get what was supposed to be his position! Yvonne Hartman was in no way suited to be the head of Torchwood; he was a much better pick.

Grinding out his cigarette with his shoe, he swept back into the covert facility that appeared to be a furniture factory. It was actually where they kept unusable alien equipment until they found a suitable way to get rid of it, but ever since he had taken over as the head of this particular facility he had it outfitted as a medical testing lab for alien life forms.

And what he found recently was surely going to get him promoted by the board as the proper head of Torchwood One, just as he should be.

He smirked as he thought about his new little 'pet.'

She was feisty, now more than earlier, which was odd. Usually his little lab rats wore down over time, but not this one; she was growing stronger and stronger with each passing hour.

Fascinating.

He had been questioning her using his normal interrogation methods at first, but then decided to up the ante by increasing the electrical output to well over what a human could withstand and each time he was astounded that she managed to survive. And the whole she kept looking at the one-way mirror, as though she could actually see him, with a creepy gleam in her eye.

He didn't know if he was more impressed by her survival or the enjoyment she seemed to derive from their attempts to break her.

A shout from down the hall stole his attention away from his thoughts. "Mr. Allens! Mr. Allens!"

"What is it, Jacobsen?"

The man was panicked and panting heavily by the time he made it to his side. "Sir. Sir, you need to get in there. She's going crazy! Her bonds are barely holding her down, but it won't last. We need to find a way to restrain her!"

For once in Derek Allens life, he found that he might have over stretched himself; he didn't know what this 'Rose Tyler,' companion of the one known as the Doctor, was even capable of or if she really was human. Considering everything that she had just endured, he was beginning to suspect that she might not be.

The alarms went off.

"Shit!" he swore.

She was loose.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N**: Alright, this is the chapter where things get gruesome. Remember, this is a horror story. I'm not trying to sound patronizing, I just want to warn you that it's not going to be pleasant. This story is un-betaed, so if you see any mistakes, please let me know. Thank you everyone for the wonderful feedback! :)

**Warning!: Read at your own discretion! There are mentions of violence and mutilations in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Doctor Who or anything you recognize.

* * *

The sirens were going off everywhere in the building and Derek was calling orders left and right at his employees.

"Don't let it leave the building! Use force if necessary, but try not to kill it! I want it alive!" Tugging his gun from his holster, Derek carefully made his way through the halls, checking around every corner for the woman, or really, the creature.

Something came over his radio, but it was too garbled to understand. Lifting it, he tried to contact the person back, but nothing went through. These were radios made from alien technology and could reach someone around the world within seconds. The only time they didn't work was when they were destroyed, but that took an exceedingly powerful amount of force.

Now he was certain that he had been in over his head with this one. He was usually a man who enjoyed taking risks; that was how he got where he was today, but he didn't do it recklessly. He carefully stayed away from any unnecessary and dangerous risks. Now, though, it seemed he had run headlong into a very dangerous situation for the sake of a position. Whatever Rose Tyler was, it certainly wasn't human. Not anymore, at least.

Another sound came over his radio again, this time it was the voice of his assistant, Rodney Cornell. It was sounded as if he was caught between pleading and screaming and then the line went dead.

Derek was too terrified to radio back for fear of the creature being close by and hearing him. He slowly made his way down to main floor and froze at what saw.

Mutilated corpses covered the entire floor; it was a massacre.

They never stood a chance.

Body parts were littered everywhere and when he stepped closer there appeared to be teeth marks on the bones. The flesh had been stripped and the muscle torn away; eaten.

The acrid scent of blood and the images of gore almost made Derek vomit. It was horrible. Oh god, what had they unleashed?!

What was that thing?!

A squelch filled the air.

He felt the hairs on his arms and neck stand up and willed himself to turn towards the sound, gun at the ready.

There, standing by the main desk, was the creature and no longer did it look like Rose Tyler. No, it was covered from head to toe in gore and its eyes were just black, empty pits. It smiled sadistically at him and spoke in a raspy, high pitched voice, "We were so hungry. Starving. So much food. So hungry. We saw into their souls. Saw their fear. And we bathed in it. Bathed in their blood. So hungry."

It moved towards him and he fired several shots, each one hitting their target. It stopped the creature's momentum, but it didn't kill it. It shrieked, narrowing its eyes and hissing out something he couldn't understand and then it was on him before he even saw the creature move. "Feed us! More! We must have more! You hurt us! Brought us pain! But we shall feed! On all things! Feed! So hungry! Feed! Feed!"

Its fingers were no longer of the human variety as they elongated and wrapped around his neck. It leaned in close, running its nose along his jugular, sniffing. "You tortured us. Freed us. Hurt us. Now you feed us. Feed us!"

Sharp teeth sunk into his throat and tore it open. There was a handful of seconds when his body convulsed before everything faded.

Derek Allens knew no more.

* * *

The first thing he became aware of was the burning sensation in his chest above each heart. The second thing was Mickey Smith's face hovering just inches from his.

"Oi! Wake your lazy arse up! We have to save Rose!" Mickey shouted, uncomfortably close to the Doctor's ears.

He pulled away from the shouting man, his ears ringing at the onslaught of sound. "Ow, Mickey! I know. Just give me a minute and we'll go get her. I'm going to need to get something to hold her down anyway."

Mickey looked at him as if he had lost his mind instead just getting it back. "Now you plan on tying her up?! Wow, Doctor, you win boyfriend of the year for that one," he sneered scathingly.

The Doctor was too tired to argue and frankly saw no point in defending himself. "I know, but you saw what the creatures did to me and Reinette; imagine what it's done to Rose."

"Exactly! We don't want to alert her to what's really going on."

"Mickey, she, or it, already knows. We have to act fast. I don't know what it's capable of, but I do know that Rose is at the center of the creature's plans. Now, come on. Help me up. I need to check on Reinette before we go to the console room," he commented as Mickey grabbed him under the arms and lifted him.

The duo made their way over to the mistress, who was still unconscious on the floor where they left her. "Give me a hand. Don't worry; whatever is in her is much too weak to have her attack us. I believe that a majority of the creatures that were in her transferred into me via lip to lip contact."

Staring at him with a most peculiar face, Mickey processed the Doctor's words with the utmost care. "Are you saying that the reason she kissed you was because that creature made her?"

"Most likely, yes. The second time I met her she was rather aggressive. She literally overpowered me and shoved into the fireplace. The second her lips touched mine the creature seized control. After that everything has kind of blurred together. I mean, I remember a majority of it but not the reasons why I felt so compelled to act the way I did." He leaned over and grabbed Reinette under the shoulders and Mickey grabbed her legs. "Over there, the glass cased room."

They shuffled slowly, but easily managed to get her into the strange glass case, setting her on the low lying bed there. Cutting her bonds from her, they attached similar cuffs to her wrists and ankles just the same way as Mickey and Jack had done to the Doctor earlier. "There," the Doctor panted, "that should hold her while the machine does it job."

Mickey shut the door firmly behind him, making certain it was sealed properly. "What's it going to do?"

"It will locate the parasites and neutralize them before removing them from her. It's a much gentler version of that machine you used on me earlier. It will take a longer time, but she will be unconscious for it so she won't feel it."

The machine scanned the slumbering woman, checking for any and all medical issues that might need to be addressed and the Doctor made sure it wouldn't affect any of the other 'issues' she had. He thought it best not to muck up her future by making her completely healthy. He directed the machine to focus on the creature and perform the task as carefully as possible. It would alert him when it was finished.

"Alright then, where's Jack?" The Doctor just now noticed his other companion's absence.

"Went to his old room to grab some stuff he left behind last time. He'll be back shortly." Mickey said absently. He waited for the Doctor to finish with the machine.

The Doctor typed in a few more orders for the extraction before heading to the door, where Mickey was now waiting. "Alright, Doctor?"

"Yeah, now we go find Rose." He was determined to do this without getting emotional, but that was unlikely because it involved Rose.

This was going to be one of the most painful things he would ever do.

* * *

The timelines slowly cleared when the last of the creatures' influence on board was lifted as the French mistress was purified of the parasite.

But her worries were far from allayed.

She couldn't see her Wolf's timeline anymore and that terrified her. The creatures have seized most of her Wolf's mind and shut her off almost completely from the TARDIS.

The ship had one last vestige of a hold in her Wolf's mind, buried so deep the creatures had not reached it.

Yet.

It would only be a matter of time before it took complete control and she needed to be quick if they were to save her Wolf.

She gave her strength to her Time Lord and willed herself to finished recharging before they left.

Her Thief would need all the help he could get and she knew just who would be able to assist him when things took a turn for the worst.

The one person who would not only hold the fate of the universe in her hands one day, but also a piece of the Doctor's hearts.

The TARDIS was going to need _Her_ help, but they would both have to be subtle for the Doctor was not meant to meet her yet.

So the TARDIS sent her message through the timelines seeking _Her_.

* * *

The Doctor and Mickey ran into Jack after stopping by a storage room for an extra pair of the cuffs they used on the Doctor. They all filed into the console room as the Doctor set the coordinates for the last place they landed. "The TARDIS will materialize a few moments after it last left there. That way we can catch up to Rose and bring her back. By now it's probably figured out that the batch on board the TARDIS is no longer in control and has probably set the rest of its plan in motion. We need to act fast."

The other two men agreed and prepared themselves for whatever they found.

The ship landed with a thud and Jack went out first, just in case the creature had taken control and decided to attack.

As he scanned the area, Jack didn't see Rose anywhere. She must have gotten quite far since they left. "Doctor, she's not here. You can come out now."

The Doctor shuffled out of the door somewhat nervously, not sure what to expect. "Nothing? Let me do a quick scan." He whipped out his sonic screwdriver and checked the surrounding area and found that Jack was correct; Rose was nowhere near them. In fact, he couldn't detect her at all within a two mile radius.

"Now that's just impossible. She couldn't have gotten that far that quickly." The Doctor ran back into the TARDIS to check a larger area surrounding them. Still nothing. "I don't get it. I really don't. She's gone, just…gone."

Both his other passengers looked at one another as the Doctor fought down the swell of panic growing in his chest. "Maybe I didn't drop her off in London."

"No, you did. The monitor showed that you did." Mickey piped in. "I remember her stepping out of the TARDIS right over there. Maybe you got the time wrong?"

The Doctor scoffed, "I'm a Time Lord, Mickey. If there is one thing I know more than anything else, it is time. It's possible that something is blocking me."

Jack walked back into the TARDIS from right outside the doorway and the moment his foot passed the threshold the doors swung shut and the time rotor started up.

"What?! What are you doing?!" the Doctor shouted at his ship.

No matter what he did to stop her, the TARDIS ignored him. Finally, after a really bumpy ride, the TARDIS landed and went silent once more. The trio looked at each other, not sure what just happened.

The Doctor checked the monitor and found that they were right back where they had just left, only it was several hours later. He ran back down the ramp and found that it was very early morning, probably not long at four. "Why did she bring us here?"

Jack strode out the doors behind him and something in his pocket went off. He reached in and pulled out a small device that resembled a pager. He checked the little screen on it and his face paled. "Doctor, I think I may have found something. I just got a distress call from one of the Torchwood facilities nearby."

The Doctor was puzzled about how that connected to Rose. "Yeah, so what of it?"

"You remember when we encountered the last of the Slitheen family in Cardiff. You noticed that two particular words kept popping up wherever we went. Well, it says here that the test subject from the 'Bad Wolf Project' has become active and attacked the facility."

The Doctor felt his hearts stutter. No. No, not her. No, they couldn't be too late. Please, not his Rose. Not her. He tore back into the TARDIS. "Coordinates, Jack! NOW!"

His ship groaned from being used so much without having enough rest, but there was no time to concern himself with that as he landed the TARDIS at the location Jack indicated.

They would never forget the sickening scene that greeted them once they all set foot into the main floor of the facility.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N**: Hello! Sorry about the wait, I had a lot of trouble with this chapter and there was quite a bit of re-writing going on. Please forgive me. But here it is! Chapter 16! :D This story is un-betaed so if you see any mistakes please do not hesitate to let me know. Thank you so much for all of the wonderful reviews! I am absolutely delighted that you all are enjoying this story so much! :) Enough from me, here is the next chapter! Please let me know what you think.

Enjoy! :D

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything.

* * *

The entire room was covered in blood and ribbons of flesh.

The group stood there in horrified silence.

"Wha?" Mickey began, but gagged on the overwhelming scent of iron.

Jack was handling the situation a little better, having been on some rather gruesome battlefields before in his life. This was awful. There was no other way to describe it.

"Doctor?" Jack pressed. "Do you think…do you think Rose…?"

The Doctor's face was impassive, no emotion showing at all and Jack knew what that meant. The creature had taken control of her; there was no doubt about it now.

"Jack," the Doctor turned to him, "I need you to check for life signs from any of these people while I run some diagnostics, okay? And be careful."

"Yeah…" Jack said slowly.

Ducking inside the TARDIS again, the Doctor ran up the ramp and checked the monitor to see if the creature was still in the building. After a few seconds he was alerted that it was indeed still there and on the main floor, attempting to get out through one of the exit doors. They must have deadlocked sealed the entire building, among other things.

Mickey was still standing outside the TARDIS holding the cuffs in his hands, freaked out by what he saw. No. No. Please, not Rose. "Save her…he has to save her…save her from this," he croaked in a broken voice.

The Doctor was rushing through the data as it appeared on the screen, his mind running through all the possible scenarios of what had occurred. He was thinking about everything except what might have happened to Rose; he just couldn't bring himself to think about what the creature had done to her or if it had already consumed—no. Not right now. There was no time for that.

He had to stop the creature first. If he let his emotions get in the way then there was no possibility to save Rose at all. Focus, he needed to focus.

"Doctor," Jack appeared in the room along with Mickey, "there's no one. They're all dead."

Tightening his grip on the console to regain control of his emotions, the Doctor nodded and sent the TARDIS to the section of the main floor where the creature was without a word. As soon as they landed they could hear a loud banging coming from outside.

A screech was emitting from just beyond the doors, growing louder with each passing second. The Doctor was about to throw the doors open but Jack stopped him, indicating that he should go first. Reluctantly, the Doctor allowed him and Jack opened the door.

And he found himself face to face with the twisted visage of Rose Tyler, or at least, what used to be Rose Tyler. Now it was just the blood soaked creature wearing her as a skin suit; its face sunken and hollow. Its eyes were nothing but black, empty pits.

Jack froze at the sight.

The creature hissed and backed away from the immortal man, desperately trying to put distance between them. "Hateful thing! Monster!" it shrieked.

The creature was backed up against a deadlocked door that had chunks of metal missing in the shape of claw marks. It was trying to escape but the barriers were at least a meter thick; it would take the creature days, even weeks, to claw its way through.

It was trapped.

A sharp, strangled gasp came from behind Jack. The Doctor stood there, shaking at what he saw.

"Rose?" he voiced feebly.

The creature turned its gaze away from Jack and narrowed its eyes on the Doctor, a sneer forming on its lips before it grinned menacingly. "Ah, the coward returns," it goaded.

The Doctor's expression hardened as he stared the creature down. "What have you done to her?"

"Eaten. We devoured her, all of her!" thousands of voices cried out from Rose's mouth.

The Doctor didn't even flinch. "No, you haven't. She is still alive."

The creature faltered only slightly before grinning even wider. "Only a matter of time. She will die. Nothing can save her."

The Doctor's eyes became dark and cold, the Oncoming Storm finally making his appearance. "Oh, I've stopped you before. I am no longer under your influence so what makes you think that I can't save her?"

"You are weak. So is she. The clock ticks, Time Lord. Time is no longer your friend." the creature cackled, moving away from the wall as Jack slowly approached it. "Soon all will be lost. Soon we will rise!"

The Doctor didn't miss a beat, "Over my cold corpse. You have caused enough destruction and I will stop you. I will rid the universe of your kind and save Rose. You are nothing but a parasite that should have perished in the Dark Times."

Not waiting for the creature's response, the Doctor walked over to Jack and whispered in his ear, "I need you to hold it down long enough for me to stun it. After that we'll chain it up before it becomes active again, okay?"

Jack nodded, knowing that it was likely he would not come out of this unscathed. Already he could tell that the creature was forming a plan to escape and they didn't have time to lose. They had to distract it long enough for him to get a grip on it and, luckily for him, the Doctor was a master at distraction.

"Soooo, what is it you really want? How did you survive so long?" the Doctor questioned the creature rapidly.

The creature shifted its attention to the Doctor, but remained wary of Jack. "We are eternal. Nothing can destroy us."

Scoffing, the Doctor responded, "Nothing lasts forever. You'll die out just like everything else."

"Like the Time Lords?" the creature taunted. "You are the last. Yes. We heard whispers. A war. A Time War. Those who threatened us are gone. All but one. Weakling. Pathetic. You could not save them. How can you save her?"

A burning rage simmered deep in the Doctor's gut at the creature's words before he hissed, "I will wipe every last one of you creatures out of existence. Do not doubt that. I may be the last of the Time Lords but that does not mean I can't stop you. Your kind may be the things of mere myth, but I will make certain that it stays that way."

The creature was completely distracted by the infuriated Doctor and Jack took his chance. Tackling the creature from behind, Jack wrestled with it as it thrashed and attempted to throw him off. The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and set it to stun, hoping beyond hope that it worked long enough for them to restrain it.

As soon as Jack was able to maneuver the creature close enough, the Doctor activated the stun setting and it shrieked horribly before going completely limp. Even if the creatures possessing Rose had control of her, it was still a human body. The sensory overload from the sonic still worked, which the Doctor had hoped to never use on Rose at any point in time, but desperate times and all.

Seconds later Jack collapsed beside the creature's unconscious body, a massive hole in his chest; he was dead. The creature must have gotten him when the Doctor was setting his sonic screwdriver. Even knowing that the immortal man would wake up eventually, it still did not ease the Doctor's guilty conscious nor his nerves as Mickey came barreling out of the TARDIS with the cuffs and chains.

They pinned the creature's limbs by wrapping the chains around it and securing its arms and legs. A moment later, Jack sucked in a deep breath and coughed hoarsely. "Damn that hurt. Remind me to never try to arm wrestle this thing," he joked, but it fell flat.

The Doctor motioned for Jack to help him and Mickey carry the creature into the TARDIS infirmary. As they hauled the surprisingly heavy creature into the console room, Mickey questioned the Doctor about something that had been bothering him. "Hey, what about are we going to do about the mass of dead bodies out there? If they discover that it was Rose or at least something that looked like Rose that did that, aren't the police or military going to come after Jackie? Maybe they'd think she was involved?"

The Doctor didn't hesitate before he stated, "Time machine, Mickey. We'll have to deal with that later and I get the feeling that it's not going to be pretty."

"Just let me know if you need any help, Doc. It may be Torchwood but my true loyalties lie with you and Rose and I won't let anyone hurt her family." Jack interjected as he avoided almost hitting the creature against the console.

"Thanks Jack," the Doctor responded sincerely.

A low growl came from between them as the creature began to awaken. Though the Doctor was rather confident the chains could withstand the creature's strength, he was still wary of it. Snarling sounds came from the creature's wide mouth as it once again began to thrash about. It was a struggle and took far longer than the Doctor had hoped to get the creature to the infirmary. He had to act fast if they were to get the creatures out of Rose's system and have any hope of saving her.

They managed to lug the creature into the middle of the infirmary and the Doctor glanced over at the glass room where Reinette was looking rather panicked at the restraints around her limbs. The instant she saw the Doctor she was thoroughly relieved, that is, until she saw the creature. She shrieked, but her screams were muffled by the glass like substance surrounding her.

The Doctor ignored her and focused his attention on the creature. He didn't have time to drag it into the glass room; he had to use the other device.

Rushing over the machine that had extracted the creature from his own body, the Doctor grabbed the full canister that held the remainder of the creature that had been in him and set it inside a small stasis chamber. He would deal with it later. Unfortunately, he couldn't find a large enough canister to hold the monumental amount of creatures that were swarming inside Rose's body. He might be able to get some of them out, but the canister wasn't nearly large enough for all of creatures.

This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

He inserted the empty canister and brought the device over to where Jack and Mickey were holding the creature down as best they could. It screamed and howled. He nodded at the two of them to undo Rose's shirt so he could attach the device. As soon as the last buttons were freed, the Doctor placed the contraption on the creature and activated it.

The shrieks would forever haunt the Doctor's nightmares.

While the creature attempted to dislodge the device, the Doctor went over to the glass room where Reinette was still panicking at what was happening just meters away. He checked the readings and discovered that she was free of whatever remained of the creatures residing in her. Unlatching the seal on the room, the Doctor swept in and released Reinette from her bonds. Immediately she threw her arms around his neck and whimpered in fright but the Doctor pulled away, ignoring her wounded expression, and nudged her out of the room before going back to creature.

Its features were less frightful than before but the Doctor knew that there were still so much of the creatures left in Rose's body. He only hoped that the device would pull enough out of her to give him some more time.

Time.

He needed more time.

That's it!

He rushed over to Jack, "I need you to help me carry it over to the glass chamber. I'm going to turn the room into a temporary stasis chamber, but we'll have to be quick about it; the TARDIS can only sustain it for so long before she starts ripping herself apart."

"Who? Rose?" Jack questioned as they hauled the creature up into their arms again.

"No, the TARDIS. It'll be similar to what happened with Margaret the Slitheen, but let's hope it doesn't come to that." The device on the creature's chest 'pinged' and the Doctor removed it, slightly worried about how ragged the creature's breathing had become. He prayed that it wasn't dying because if it was then that meant Rose was too.

They tugged what remained of the creature into the glass room and chained it to the low lying chair. Within moments, the Doctor had the system ready to turn the glass room into a stasis chamber. As soon the he activated it the creature stopped moving almost completely, but its vital signs were showing a very slow deterioration.

"We have to move. Jack, stay here and keep an eye on the system for me. You two," the Doctor gestured at Mickey and Reinette, who looked about ready to pass out, "with me. Now."

The Doctor was hesitant to come any closer to Reinette than absolutely necessary so Mickey grabbed her by the arm and almost dragged her to the console room. She was not happy about that. "What do you think you are doing? Unhand me!" she all but spat at Mickey.

"Not likely. You are more trouble than you are worth, honestly, and I want to make sure you don't cause any more destruction." Mickey grumbled irritably.

The Doctor ignored both of them. He needed to make this trip quick, but he was terrified that he wouldn't find all the parts he needed. Anxiety was almost choking him.

"My angel, what has happened? Where am I?" Reinette's voice cut through his thoughts like a hot blade. Great, she wanted an explanation right at that moment. He didn't have time for that.

Entering the console room, the Doctor immediately set the coordinates for their next destination. He gave Mickey a look and stated, "Hold onto her so she doesn't hurt herself. I need her in relatively good condition when I take her back to France."

Mickey was more than miffed at being relegated to 'Tin Dog' again, but bit his tongue when he remembered the severity of the situation.

Reinette gawked at the room around her, uncertain as to where exactly she was. "The Doctor's ship." Mickey explained to her.

"We are on the Doctor's vessel? But why is he taking me home?" She was truly puzzled about this.

Mickey scoffed, "Really? After everything you've done? Just be thankful that the Doctor is willing to take you home because I would have left you on some uninhabitable planet myself."

"Mickey, stop. I am not taking her home right at this moment. We'll need all the help we can get." the Doctor chided with false calm.

Reinette looked about ready to lecture Mickey about his behavior towards her when the TARDIS landed. The Doctor didn't even look at them as he ran down the ramp and out the doors, shouting over his shoulder, "Come on! We need to look for some parts and we need to do it quickly! Rose doesn't have much time left." The last bit he murmured more to himself.

Following after him, Mickey and Reinette found themselves in what looked to be a junk yard. An alien junk yard.

"Where are we?" Mickey asked him.

"Korrp. It's a scavenger's paradise." The Doctor didn't break his stride as the other two caught up with him.

Mickey was astounded by the sheer size of the place; it appeared to go on for miles. He didn't know what it was that the Doctor was looking for, but it would be very difficult to find in a place like this.

"Galx! I know you're here! I need your help!" the Doctor shouted.

The temperature dropped suddenly and Mickey feared what had caused it. A squelching sound off to their right caught everyone's attention.

"Doctor," a voice hissed, "you have changed again. To what do I owe the honor?"

A scaly creature with claw-like hands and large bulging eyes slithered out from behind a pile of junk and Mickey had to wrap his hand around Reinette's mouth to prevent her from shrieking. His palm only muffled her screams. "Shut up," he whispered harshly at her.

"Galx, it's been a while. I need some parts for my Medicax Prime system. The ones I have are outdated and will break if I attempt to push it to its full capacity. Do you have them?" the Doctor pleaded Galx, hope lacing his words.

Galx's eyes darted between the Doctor and his companions. "I believe I might have some. What will you give me?"

"I have some extra Paxian capacitors that I have no use for. Are you interested?" the Doctor bribed the other alien.

Galx grinned, or at least that's what it looked like to them.

"Perhaps. Why don't you show me what you need in my shop? Please, follow me." Galx slithered away and the trio followed after him hesitantly.

The Doctor could only hope that his contact would have the necessary parts.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N**: Hello again! I have another chapter for you! This story is un-betaed so any mistakes are my own. Thank you everyone for your reviews! Your feedback is greatly appreciated! :) I will give you a small hint as to who the new character in this story is. If you don't know who it is, don't worry, you'll know at the end of the story. Till then, happy guessing! :)

_Hint: This chapter is where two stories meet._

Enjoy! :D

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Doctor Who or anything you recognize.

* * *

As they followed the alien known as Galx through his junk yard, Mickey got a good look around. Indeed it seemed that the junk yard covered miles upon miles of whatever planet they were on, but it was hard to tell exactly how far it reached because the sun was setting and only distant flickering lights could be seen near the horizon.

The French mistress managed to shake off Mickey's hold and latched onto the Doctor, who almost jumped right out of his skin when she grabbed him.

"My lonely angel, please, what is it that I have done to offend you so?" she pleaded, batting her eyelashes at him.

The Doctor pulled his arm away from her and a hurt expression covered her face. He sighed heavily, "It wasn't really you," he paused, his eyes not meeting hers, "technically, but things happened and people got hurt. It was no one's fault because almost all of us were influenced by something else, but then again, I shouldn't have brought you with us in the first place. You're getting to a certain point in your life where this is too dangerous. Really, I should not have come back for you because you could have died."

Reinette winced and her expression hardened when the Doctor began talking about happened, which Mickey found curious. Was the mistress hiding something? Although he was thoroughly suspicious of Reinette even with the creatures gone, Mickey reckoned it was unfair to think that her ulterior motives, which he was certain she still had some, were as threatening as they had been before. He shrugged it off.

The Doctor himself was trying to keep the woman from touching him. The creatures may be gone but her presence was no longer welcome. Maybe it was because she had helped him push Rose off the TARDIS, but he had a feeling that there was something else as well. She was too manipulative for his tastes. Reinette was an amazing woman who ascended to power because of her talents, but that didn't mean that he wanted her on his ship. There was a reason why she was able to remain the mistress despite her inability to have sexual intercourse with the king, or anyone for that matter.

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson was almost cruel in her ability to strike down her enemies. Anyone who wanted her usurp her position often found themselves out of the running for the king's main mistress very quickly. Although she may not have been queen, she all but ruled France completely through the king. Reinette was a remarkable woman, but he did feel comfortable having her as one of his companions.

And that was exactly why she wouldn't fit in well on his ship; Reinette was used to the social structure of 18th century Versailles and she would tear down the person who had what she wanted. That person being Rose Tyler.

He may respect Reinette's position and what she represented as a historical figure, but he much preferred to do so from afar.

Galx stopped in front of a large pile of what appeared to be engine parts and growled low in his throat. All of a sudden a gaping hole appeared where several parts should have been, revealing an opening in the junk pile. He motioned for them to follow him again and they all descended into a room filled with all sorts of objects.

The shop was surprisingly massive, but the Doctor paid no mind to it as he followed Galx over to a shopping counter. He pulled out the capacitors from his coat pocket and handed them to Galx, who looked them over in his claw-like hands.

"Yes, these are very nice." Galx hissed. "What do you need?"

The Doctor procured a list from another pocket and handed it to Galx, who scanned the list. He paused at something at the bottom, but didn't say anything. "In here. Your companions may look around if they wish." He gestured for the Doctor to follow him.

The two companions were left in the main shop room and they both began to look around at some pieces of equipment. There were several rooms in the shop and they were rather curious as to what exactly was in the other areas. Mickey warned Reinette not to get too curious, but she ignored him and chose to look inside another room.

She wandered around, not touching anything, quickly getting lost in the labyrinthine shop. Chiding herself for not paying attention, she attempted to go back the way she came; however, as soon as she made to pass through one of the doors she hit an invisible wall. A light shock rippled through her body, enough to make her jump but certainly not to harm her.

Reinette called for help, but no one came. Panic was beginning to set in when a voice spoke from behind her. "They can't hear you."

Turning slowly to face the speaker, Reinette saw a partially obscured figure leaning against a wall. "What do you mean they can't hear me?"

"I mean you and I are currently inside a temporal pocket of sorts; we are one second out of time. No one can hear you but me," the figure stated mildly.

Shaken by her new circumstances, Reinette relied on her training to appear calm in front of this stranger. The individual leaned in a little closer to Reinette, but not uncomfortably so.

It was a woman.

"And why are we in a…tempral pocket?" Reinette demanded.

"Temporal pocket," the woman corrected. Reinette narrowed her eyes at the woman's condescending tone. "You are here because I need to speak with you."

Reinette didn't let the woman get to her. She had been in many awkward, and now dangerous, situations before; she would call the shots. "Well, be that as it may, you could have done so in the presence of the Doctor."

Although the woman's features were difficult to distinguish, Reinette still saw her arrogant smile. "Actually, no, I could not. For many reasons that you wouldn't understand, not that I owe you any kind of explanation. I need you to give him something important."

The woman reached down into something beside her; a bag slung across her chest. A moment later, the woman pulled out a small box and held it up in her hands. "Give this to him the next time you see him. There is also a letter inside."

Pursing her lips, Reinette shook her head. "No. I am not his lackey. You should have given it to his servant."

"Servant?" Her voice sharp and harsh, the woman's eyes narrowed dangerously and Reinette took a step back as a cold chill prickled down her spine. The woman continued as though she had not noticed. "You actually believe Mickey to be the Doctor's servant?"

The mistress was not one to be intimidated, but something in the woman's voice and the way she straightened her posture caused Reinette to flinch. Just who was this woman? "The Doctor is a lord therefore it is customary for him to have servants. That boy and the child Rose must then be his—"

"Mickey is not a servant and Rose is not a child. It would be in your best interests not to refer to them as such. The Doctor may be more lenient when it comes to you but I am not; be careful you what you say in front of me. Do I make myself clear?" the woman spat angrily.

Recognizing that she no longer had the upper hand in the situation, not that she really ever had, Reinette nodded and said gingerly, "I will be wary of my words. May I ask your name so that I may ask the Doctor whether you are to be trusted or not?"

The woman's posture softened a bit, but her face was still hard. "No, you may not. You will do as I say or run the risk of tearing a massive hole in the fabric of reality because it will create a paradox. Something I am sure you do not understand." Her tone was scathing, a dig at the mistress.

Stiffening at the verbal assault, Reinette felt her own anger rising. How dare this strange woman insult her?! She may not have the Doctor's knowledge but she was an intelligent woman and would not be put down by someone else. "Why should I help you? You have done nothing but insult me."

The woman sighed. "Because if you don't I'll be forced to do something that you won't like and really, I don't want to do that. Invading someone's mind is bad enough, but against their will? Well, it's not pleasant for either party. It goes drastically against my morals too, but if it means saving the universe from destruction then I really don't have a choice."

Blanching, Reinette realized that she was trapped with a psychopath. "Invading another's mind?! Who would do such a terrible thing?"

"You would," the woman answered coolly.

Reinette was confused. "No, I certainly would not and even if I could I still wouldn't do that."

The woman laughed. "Oh that's rich! Did you forget the time you waltzed into the Doctor's mind uninvited?"

"That was different." Reinette spat angrily as her training fell away for a moment.

"Oh really? How so? Reinette, do you even fully understand what you did? You violated his trust when you went into his mind without asking. Do you have any idea how many secrets the Doctor has? Secrets that must not be known to anyone except him. When someone thrusts themselves into your mind uninvited they can strip away your barriers and destroy you from the inside out." The woman visibly winced at her own comment, an emotion Reinette couldn't identify flitting across her face. She went on to elaborate.

"Reinette, he asked to go inside yours and he did so because he was trying to save your life. Whatever you read into his actions was not really there. You may be used to men seducing you, but the Doctor did not have the same interest as them. No, that was reserved for someone else completely." Shifting against the wall, the woman came into the light a bit more and Reinette was finally able to get a good look at her.

The woman was dressed in dark clothing; she was wearing a jacket that appeared to be made of leather, black trousers, and boots. Her hair was down, but Reinette could tell that it was a messy dark brown. And her eyes, they almost glowed in the darkness like a predator, but it was difficult to discern the exact color. She was tall and lean, no baby fat at all, possibly close to Reinette's age but again, it was difficult to tell.

All in all, Reinette had to admit that there was something intriguing about this woman. Something…familiar.

"And who would the Doctor hold in such high regard?" Reinette goaded, but she already knew the answer; had known since she walked into the Doctor's mind.

"Rose Tyler." The woman's voice rang clearly throughout the room but the words sank in the mistress's chest like lead.

Sniffing haughtily, Reinette stated, "Her? She is too common for a man such as the Doctor."

"I truly wonder if there actually was any of that creature in you earlier or if you are just this arrogant," the woman muttered so low that Reinette wasn't certain she heard her.

This whole situation made Reinette's skin crawl; she wanted out, now. "If there is nothing else you have to say then let me go. I've had quite enough of this."

A look of pity crossed the woman's face. "Ah, you see, I can't just 'let you go.' You need to understand something that you won't enjoy hearing."

Rolling her eyes at absurdity of the situation, Reinette drawled, "And what would that be?"

"Your death."

It was only a simple statement, said without malice. Just a statement and yet, it shook Reinette to the core. "What do you mean?"

"You are going to die. When you pushed your way into the Doctor's head you saw it. You saw what's going to happen to you. You saw the truth and you were terrified, so you ran. You ran all the way into the Doctor's ship." Her words were stated matter-of-factly.

"That…that's not true." Reinette gasped sharply, but fear seized her lungs. How could this woman know? She couldn't possibly understand! "The Doctor asked me along!"

"He wasn't exactly in his right mind at the time and you know it. Stop acting dumb; you remember plenty of what happened earlier so there's no use lying to me. Besides, most of what you said and did was under your own influence but you don't want the Doctor know that." Turning her head, a loud crack resonated throughout the room. "Ah, that's better. Was getting a bit stiff there."

"What?"

The woman stared hard at her. "Really? You're still playing that stupid game? Come now, Reinette, you're human, of course you ran. A human's strongest instinct is survival but here's the thing," she paused for a moment, "what you have done has threatened the entire universe with a parasite that should be long gone. Granted, it has manipulated a majority of those involved, but now you have the chance to make it right. You can't run anymore, Reinette. There are more lives at stake now, more than your own. If you don't help the Doctor save Rose you won't live long enough to regret it."

"Are you threatening me?" Reinette tensed, her posture defensive.

The woman ran a hand through her hair and almost growled, "If Rose dies the people she will save someday will die too. She is vastly more important than you give her credit. Give him this, Reinette, and help him save her life. You might even live to see tomorrow."

Holding out the little box, the woman gestured for Reinette to take it. Reluctantly, the mistress treaded forward and, with trembling hands, grasped the little parcel from the woman. "I never wished for her to die. I just," Reinette gasped a little, her throat constricting with emotion, "there's so much I could accomplish. I don't want to die yet."

The woman didn't bat an eyelash. "No one does, but you hurt somebody I care about. You hurt several people I care about and I can't forgive you for that, but I do pity you. You tried to become the Doctor's main priority so he would save you, but he can't."

"He could." Reinette voiced feebly.

Shaking her head, the woman responded, "He could; logically he could take you to the future and prevent the disease from ravaging your body, but he won't. Your life is a fixed event and he won't change that because if he did the universe would either kill you the moment you set foot outside the TARDIS or it would rip reality apart. Your life is not worth the countless lives that would be lost, no matter how self-important you think you are. I've met people like you before; selfish, power-hungry, and willing to tear apart those who stand in their way and you know what happened? I destroyed them. Think on that."

Reinette shivered not only because of the woman's words but also because of the way she said them; voice like a hot knife digging into her gut. This woman had seen death before, had probably caused it too. "Yes. I…I will help him." Her voice was weak.

"Good. Now, go give that to him and thank whatever deity you believe in that you have lived to see another day. You are an important woman of history, Reinette, but so is Rose. She, however, will be remembered for reasons far different than yours, but she is no less important. Good bye, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, and don't ever let me catch you hurting Rose Tyler again." The woman's words stung as they hit their mark.

"Who are you?" Reinette questioned.

The woman smirked and answered, "Me? Oh, I'm just a weary traveler."

"Reinette, where are you?! Come on! The Doctor is almost done!" Mickey's voice rang out from somewhere, startling Reinette. She turned towards the doorway and saw Mickey a room away, but he wasn't looking at her.

She gasped and Mickey whirled around and asked, "What? If you were right there, why didn't you saying anything?"

"But I…" Reinette gestured behind her towards the woman, but when she saw Mickey's puzzled look she knew something was off. She turned around.

The woman was gone!

"What? But…" she stuttered.

Mickey growled agitatedly, "Come on, we don't have time for this."

Grabbing the mistress by the arm again, he led her back to the main room to discover that the Doctor had returned and was discussing something very animatedly with the other alien.

The Doctor was panicked about something.

Mickey felt his heart jump into his throat.


End file.
